New Brunswick Climate Change Hub
News Monitoring | March 7-13, 2009
March 7
Canadaeast.com | March 7, 2009
The bargain of a lifetime
In our view: Follow New Brunswick Union's lead and green your workplace
It was only a few years ago that we still couldn't quite agree on whether climate change was real or
just a theory, and whether the Earth's temperature was going up or down. Even writing that seems
ludicrous now - to possibly try to convince ourselves that all our laziness, greed and disregard had
failed to harm our planet. [more]
March 8
Guardian.co | Jonathan Watts | March 8, 2009
China to plough extra 20% into agricultural production amid fears that climate
change will spark food crisis
Wen Jiabao announces extra money to boost farm yields, raise rural incomes and invest in renewable
energy. China will increase spending on agricultural production by 20% this year amid warnings that
climate change could spark a future food crisis. [more]
March 9
Planetark.org | David Fogarty | March 9, 2009
Rising Ocean Acidity Cutting Shell Weights - Study
SINGAPORE - Acidifying oceans caused by rising carbon dioxide levels are cutting the shell weights of
tiny marine animals in a process that could accelerate global warming, a scientist said on Monday.
William Howard of the University of Tasmania in Australia described the findings as an early-warning
signal, adding the research was the first direct field evidence of marine life being affected by rising acidity
of the oceans. [more]
Planetark.org | David Fagarty | March 9, 2009
Has Recession Trimmed CO2 Output? We'll Know By 2010
SINGAPORE - The financial crisis has slashed industrial output and trade but it will be months before
there is an accurate picture of how much the downturn has curbed greenhouse gas emissions, two
leading scientists said on Friday. [more]
Planetark.org | Timothy Gardner | March 9, 2009
NY Gov Considers Change In 10-State Carbon Pact
NEW YORK - New York's governor is considering giving, rather than auctioning, a greater amount of
permits that allow power plants to emit carbon dioxide in a regional climate pact and environmentalists
charge it would cut millions of dollars in revenues to develop clean energy. [more]
Planetark.org | Karen Jacobs | March 9, 2009
US Energy-Saving Appliance Push Could Fall Flat
ATLANTA - Appliance sellers and manufacturers hope the US government's green energy initiatives will
mean more tax credits to jolt sagging sales of dishwashers, water heaters and washing machines.
But experts caution that incentives alone may not be enough to convince cost-conscious consumers to
buy these higher-efficiency appliances, which tend to carry higher price tags, if home sales stay weak.
[more]
Planetark.org | Timothy Gardner | March 9, 2009
Scientists Map US Rocks That Soak Up CO2
NEW YORK - Certain rocks abundant on the US East and West coasts may one day be coaxed to absorb
emissions of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide at a rate that could slow climate change, scientists
say.
"One day this could be an incredibly useful tool to help fight global warming," said Sam Krevor, the lead
author of a new study by scientists at Columbia University's Earth Institute and the US Geological Survey
that maps such rocks in the United States. [more]
Planetark.org | March 9, 2009
China Pledges $2 Billion For Tibet Environment
BEIJING - China has pledged to spend 15 billion yuan (US$2.19 billion) over two decades to protect the
environment in Tibet, which is at serious risk from global warming, the official China Daily reported on
Friday. The cash would fund projects to preserve grasslands, woods and wetland, protect endangered
animals, grow "forest shelter belts" to protect against gales, and expand clean energy, the paper quoted
the region's governor, Qiangba Puncog, as saying. [more]
Planetak.org | Tom Doggett and Ayesha Rascoe | March 9, 2009
US Energy Secretary Pledges To Fight Global Warming
WASHINGTON - US Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Thursday pledged to work with Congress to pass
legislation that would impose a cap-and-trade system to curb greenhouse gas emissions and fight global
warming. [more]
March 10
Canadaeast.com | March 10, 2009
Chaleur Greening Initiative presents guest speaker
The Chaleur Greening Initiative will present a free public session by Carl Duivenvoorden on March 18 at 7
p.m. at Ecole Secondaire Nepisiguit. Carl Duivenvoorden was raised on a dairy farm in Belledune, and
attended the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. His diverse career has taken him to more than 25
countries, from New Zealand to Vietnam to Brazil. [more]
Canadaeast.com | Judy Gibson | March 10, 2009
Letters | Problems in St. John's mirror what's in store for Fredericton
Re. UNB Woodlot development
I live in St. John's, Newfoundland, but I grew up in New Brunswick and went to the University of New
Brunswick for a couple of years. I have family living in Fredericton who have told me there is pressure to
develop the woodlot above the UNB campus. [more]
Planetark.org | Michael Kahn | March 10, 2009
Warm Weather Could Cause Migraines, Study Finds
LONDON - Warmer weather and changes in atmospheric pressure may trigger headaches and
migraines, rather than pollution, researchers said on Monday.
A US research team showed that each temperature increase of 5 degrees Celsius -- about 9 degrees
Fahrenheit -- appeared to increase the risk of severe headaches by nearly 8 percent compared to days
when the weather was cooler. [more]
Planetark.org | Gina Keating | March 10, 2009
Disney Sets Plan To Cut Carbon Emissions To Zero
LOS ANGELES - The Walt Disney Co said Monday that it planned to cut carbon emissions from fuels by
half by 2012, and ultimately to achieve net zero direct greenhouse gas emissions at its office and retail
complexes, theme parks and cruise lines. [more]
Planetark.org | March 10, 2009
China Group Urges Government To Stick To Green Goals
BEIJING - A Chinese environmental group on Monday urged the government not to backtrack on
cleaning air and water despite the economic slowdown, asking parliament to ensure stimulus spending
does not prop up pollution. [more]
Planetark.org | March 10, 2009
Campaigners Call For More Fines As Litter Rises
LONDON - More fines should be handed out to litterbugs as figures show the amount of rubbish left
around Britain has rocketed in the last few decades, a report published on Monday said.
Since the 1960s, there has been a 500 percent increase in the level of litter strewn across the country,
leaving local authorities with a clean-up bill of 500 million pounds, the study said. [more]
2
Environmantalresearchweb.org | Belle Dumé | March 10, 2009
What price bottled water?
Bottled water is proving costly for the planet, in terms of economics, energy consumption and damage to
the environment. Producing and transporting spring water from Evian in France to Los Angeles in the US,
for example, requires over 10 MJ of energy per litre, about 2000 times the energy cost for producing tap
water. With sales of bottled water continuing to increase at a staggering rate worldwide, concerns
regarding its use need better evaluation. [more]
March 11
Planetark.org | Ingrid Melander | March 11, 2009
Green Protest At EU HQ, 350 Arrested
BRUSSELS - Green protesters demanding more money to tackle climate change blocked the main
entrance to European Union headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday and Belgian police said they arrested
more than 350 of them. [more]
Planetark.org | Gelu Sulugiuc | March 11, 2009
Sea Levels Rising Faster Than Expected: Scientists
COPENHAGEN - The U.N.'s climate change panel may be severely underestimating the sea-level rise
caused by global warming, climate scientists said on Monday, calling for swift cuts in greenhouse
emissions. [more]
Planetark.org | Simon Gardner | March 11, 2009
Britain's Prince Charles Sees Time Running Out To Save Planet
SANTIAGO - Time is running out to save the world from the ravages of climate change and prevent
economic meltdown and a flood of environmental refugees, Britain's Prince Charles has warned on a visit
to Chile. [more]
Planetark.org | Peter Henderson | March 11, 2009
Climate Change Accelerates Water Hunt In U.S. West
SAN FRANCISCO - It's hard to visualize a water crisis while driving the lush boulevards of Los Angeles,
golfing Arizona's green fairways or watching dancing Las Vegas fountains leap more than 20 stories high.
So look Down Under. A decade into its worst drought in a hundred years Australia is a lesson of what the
American West could become. [more]
Planetark.org | Pascal Fletcher | March 11, 2009
Tidal Wave Of Trash Threatens World Oceans
MIAMI - A tidal wave of man-made trash is threatening world oceans, damaging wildlife, tourism and
seafood industries and piling additional stress on seas already hit by climate change, conservationists
said on Tuesday. [more]
Canadaeast.com | March 11, 2009
NB announces long-term management plan for Crown forests
A new long-term management approach for Crown forests that "balances ecological and economic
priorities" was released by the Government of New Brunswick.
The announcement was made by Premier Shawn Graham, Natural Resources Minister Wally Stiles and
Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne in response to two reports concerning New Brunswick's
Crown forests and forest industry. Both reports were released in August, and public meetings and other
consultations followed. [more]
Canadaeast.com | Carl Duivenvoorden | March 11, 2009
Life in a fish bowl
What's good for the environment is often really good for our economic prosperity too. Conserving
resources, especially those that come from far away, makes sense because it preserves our environment
and keeps dollars in our pocket.
Sound too good to be possible? [more]
3
Foxnews.com | March 11, 2009
Survey: Two-Fifths of Americans View Dangers of Climate Change as
Exaggerated
Concerns about global warming are exaggerated, 41 percent of Americans believe.
That's the highest amount of skepticism ever recorded by Gallup's annual Environment Survey, which has
been going steadily since 2001. Fifty-seven percent said the seriousness of climate change as portrayed
in the news media was correct or underestimated, a record low. [more]
March 12
Planetark.org | Deborah
Zabarenko | March 12, 2009
EPA Offers First Carbon Reporting Plan
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed a comprehensive
U.S. system for reporting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, a step toward
regulating pollutants that spur climate change. [more]
Planetark.org | Gelu Sulugiuc | March 12, 2009
Aid Needed To Boost World's "Green" Energy
COPENHAGEN - Wind and solar power could produce 40 percent of the world's electricity by 2050, but
only if government subsidies are secured for the next two decades, scientists said on Wednesday.
The technologies will each need global support totaling 10 billion to 20 billion euros ($12.76 billion to
$25.51 billion) per year, said Peter Lund, professor in advanced energy systems at Helsinki University of
Technology. [more]
Planetark.org | Tim
Gaynor and Steve Gorman | March 12, 2009
Fast-Growing Western U.S. Cities Face Water Crisis
LAS VEGAS/LOS ANGELES - Desert golf course superintendent Bill Rohret is doing something that 20
years ago would have seemed unthinkable -- ripping up bright, green turf by the acre and replacing it with
rocks. [more]
Planetark.org | Steve Gorman | March 12, 2009
Sea-Level Rise Poses New Flood Risk To California
LOS ANGELES - California's farms and cities may be left high and dry by prolonged drought, but climate
change is expected to leave much of the state's fabled shoreline awash in excess seawater before too
long. [more]
Planetark.org | Mica Rosenberg | March 12, 2009
Toxic Jatropha Shrub Fuels Mexico's Biodiesel Push
ROSARIO IZAPA - All his life elderly Mexican farmer Gonzalo Cardenas has planted a stalky weed that
grows wild in southern Mexico to form a sturdy live fence around his tropical fruit trees.
Now it turns out the weed, jatropha, could be used to fuel jet planes and the Mexican government wants
farmers to grow entire fields of it to turn into biodiesel. [more]
Canadaeast.com | March 12, 2009
Premier issues energy efficiency challenge
Challenge calls for top energy efficient practices
SAINT JOHN - The new Brunswick government has is challenging residents, businesses and
communities to showcase their best practices in energy efficiency and win bragging rights.
The province has launched the first Premier's Awards for Energy Efficiency in different sectors and is
asking for nominations. [more]
Canadaeast.com | Heather McLaughlin | March 12, 2009
St. John River has city's full attention
Government officials of all stripes will have to keep a close watch on flooding this year through the St.
John River Valley to try to discern if climate change is causing worse floods, says Mayor Brad Woodside.
Provincial and city officials are keeping a close eye on weather patterns, snowmelt, temperature, and rain
and water levels to be alert to the potential for flooding. [more]
March 13
4
Planetark.org | Svetlana
Kovalyova | March 13, 2009
Italy's Solar Power Flourishes With State Help
MILAN - While economic gloom engulfs much of the world's solar energy industry, government incentives
in sunny Italy are encouraging start-ups such as February's launch of photovoltaic panel maker V-energy.
Investors, ranging from families to Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo, have piled into the photovoltaic
market due to some of Europe's most generous incentives. [more]
Planetark.org | Patrick Worsnip | March 13, 2009
Action Needed To Avoid World Water Crisis, U.N. Says
UNITED NATIONS - The world needs to act urgently to avoid a global water crisis due to increased
population, rising living standards, dietary changes and more biofuels production, the United Nations
warned on Thursday. [more]
Planetark.org | Will Dunham | March 13, 2009
Growing Pollution Leads To "Global Dimming": Study
WASHINGTON - Visibility on clear days has declined in much of the world since the 1970s thanks to a
rise in airborne pollutants, scientists said on Thursday. They described a "global dimming" in particular
over south and east Asia, South America, Australia and Africa, while visibility remained relatively stable
over North America and improved over Europe, the researchers said. [more]
Planetark.org | Deborah
Zabarenko | March 13, 2009
"Mad" Microplants Show Antarctic Climate Change
WASHINGTON - You just don't want to make phytoplankton mad.
These microscopic sea plants are at the bottom of the food chain in the waters that surround the Antarctic
peninsula, and when they're unhappy, everything that depends on them suffers, including fish, penguins
and possibly, eventually, people. [more]
Planetark.org | Matt Daily | March 13, 2009
Jury Rules Exxon Must pay $150 Million For Spill
NEW YORK - A jury in Baltimore County, Maryland on Thursday found oil company Exxon Mobil liable for
a gasoline spill three years ago and ruled it must pay residents $150 million in damages.
But the jury found the company was not liable for punitive damages the case in which 26,000 gallons of
gasoline leaked from a tank at a service station in Jacksonville, Maryland. [more]
Planetark.org | Louis Charbonneau | March 13, 2009
UN's Ban Says U.S. To Work For 2009 Climate Deal
UNITED NATIONS - The Obama administration will work with the United Nations to reach a climate
change deal acceptable to the world community by the end of 2009, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
said on Thursday. [more]
Canadaeast.com | March 13, 2009
World unprepared for climate change
U.S. National Research Council says current planning practices no longer valid
WASHINGTON - A new U.S. report says despite years of study and analysis, the world is unprepared for
climate change and needs to rethink basic assumptions that govern things as varied as choosing cars
and building bridges. [more]
Iht.com | Andrew C. Revkin | March 9, 2009
Gathering of contrarians takes on 'climate alarm'
NEW YORK: More than 600 self-professed climate skeptics are meeting in New York this week to
challenge what has become a broad scientific and political consensus: that without big changes in energy
choices, humans will dangerously heat up the planet. [more]
5
March 7
Canadaeast.com | March 7, 2009
The bargain of a lifetime
In our view: Follow New Brunswick Union's lead and green your workplace
It was only a few years ago that we still couldn't quite agree on whether climate change was real or just a
theory, and whether the Earth's temperature was going up or down.
Even writing that seems ludicrous now - to possibly try to convince ourselves that all our laziness, greed
and disregard had failed to harm our planet.
The reckless lifestyle we practised for years is no longer an option, but change can be difficult.
But that's evidently not the case for the New Brunswick Union. Its 8,200 members have made what can
only be described as an extraordinary commitment to the environment by adopting green practices as a
bargaining chip.
Two union contracts in the province have already been negotiated with the inclusion of environmental
measures like the formation of energy efficiency committees to address that issue in the workplace.
The union's Tom Mann says adopting such clauses into contracts isn't that far from what unionism has
always been about - improving the workplace - but this is really quite historic.
It's one thing to talk about greening the workplace, but building it into a contract is quite another, far more
serious proposition.
Unions in the past few years have been questioned for their relevance in today's society. Much has
changed in the 100 years since their inception, and some have floated the idea of whether unions are
even necessary in the 21st century.
What the union has done with this green decision is prove its relevance in the modern workplace.
Perhaps unions needed to step up with something new to survive and thrive, but that doesn't matter given
the payoff for our planet.
Their efforts don't stop there. On the GreenNexxus.com website, union members can and have already
signed up to commit to their own personal green acts. So far, 247 members have posted 837 initiatives
that will result in a reduction of 144 tonnes of greenhouse gases.
Who says a few people can't make a difference?
There is even more news of union greening. Mann is suggesting, in a new book, that union members
examine their pension plans and find out where all that money is invested. Are their investments
supporting environmentally friendly businesses, and if not, shouldn't they be? He calls it putting your
money where you social conscience is.
Even if you're not in a union, you can still press for a greener workplace. Bring up your issues at a staff
meeting, or add your ideas to a suggestion box. Perhaps a few places to start are an energy audit of your
workplace, the use of recyclable coffee cups, carpooling and shutting off your computer at night, all of
which will save energy and contribute to a healthier planet.
The push to make our planet more green depends on every one of us making the commitment. We have
to get it in our heads, in our thinking, in our lifestyles.
We're encouraged by the New Brunswick Union's efforts, and we suggest other unions and businesses
do the same.
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/595627
March 8
Guardian.co | Jonathan Watts | March 8, 2009
China to plough extra 20% into agricultural production
amid fears that climate change will spark food crisis
Wen Jiabao announces extra money to boost farm yields, raise rural incomes and invest in renewable
energy
China will increase spending on agricultural production by 20% this year amid warnings that climate
change could spark a future food crisis .
Prime minister Wen Jiabao's announcement of an extra 121 billion yuan (£13bn) to boost farm yields and
raise rural incomes was a central part of his annual budget speech at the Great Hall of the People.
6
The government's spending pledge also included extra money for renewable energy and improved power
efficiency, but these environmental benefits were outweighed by moves to boost overall domestic
consumption and a likely emphasis on intensive agriculture.
The short-term aim is to ease the impact of the economic crisis on rural dwellers, who account for more
than half of the 1.3bn population. This group is considered a potential source of social instability because
the average rural income is just a third that of the city. Wen said grain prices would be increased as an
incentive for farmers to produce more.
Many Chinese people can remember the famines of the early 1960s which killed tens of millions of
people. More recently, improved farming policies and technologies have given China a high level of selfsufficiency and growth. But the country's top economic planning body warned that this would be hard to
maintain.
"After five years of bumper harvests, it will be very difficult to keep grain production growing steadily," the
National Development and Reform Commission said today in its annual report, pledging to keep overall
output in the coming year at least steady at 500 million tonnes.
Satisfying the appetite of a population growing at the rate of 12 million people per year is all the more
difficult as the impacts of climate change are felt.
Lin Erda, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences projects a fall in
agricultural yields of 14% to 23% by 2050 due to water shortages and other impacts.
Northern China, which accounts for 58% of the country's food production, suffered its worst drought in
half a century earlier this year, according to local media. Rising temperatures and over-use of water
resources has continued to cause desertification, cutting the cropland available.
In the face of this, and continued industrial and urban development, it will be a major task for the coming
year to be keep the area of arable land above 120 million hectares, Wen told the 3,000 delegates of the
National People's Congress, China's parliament. This is the minimum that the government has long set
for food security.
Chinese scientists have not reached a consensus about the potential impact of climate change on overall
harvests. While some areas may be boosted by warmer, wetter growing conditions, other regions are
likely to suffer droughts and floods.
Lei Ming, an environmental economist at Peking University said the extra spending on agriculture was a
precautionary step. "The impact of climate change on food production is uncertain. It may go up, but it is
also possible that we will face massive food shortages. To avoid such a risk, we need to prepare
ourselves. I think that's one of the reasons the government is increasing the agriculture budget."
Environmental groups said that the extra investment in rural infrastructure was welcome, but that it could
prove counter-productive if not spent on sustainable farming.
"If it is used to subsidise more chemical fertilisers that would be bad, but it could benefit both farmers and
the environment if it was used to support eco-friendly cultivation," said Sze Pangcheung, Greenpeace
campaign director. "But that would require a big paradigm shift." Currently, the focus of most funding and
research in China is on intensive agriculture and genetic engineering.
While China remains committed to high economic growth, and the consequent greenhouse gas
emissions, it will continue to boost environmental programmes as well. Wen said spending would
increase on wind, solar and nuclear power, as well as research on "clean coal" technology. China's
energy efficiency has improved 10% over the last three years. The output of carbon and sulphur
emissions grew 5% slower than the economy in 2008.
The National Development and Reform Commission said China would introduce a regional climate
change programme, shut small coal mines and power plants and continue to experiment with cap and
trade emissions programmes.
China was praised for the large green component of the $586bn fiscal stimulus package it announced last
November. According to the HSBC Climate Change Centre of Excellence, investment in energy efficiency
measures, renewable technology and other efforts to ameliorate the impact of climate change accounted
for more than 30% of the package.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/05/china-food-farming
March 9
Planetark.org | David Fogarty | March 9, 2009
Rising Ocean Acidity Cutting Shell Weights - Study
SINGAPORE - Acidifying oceans caused by rising carbon dioxide levels are cutting the shell weights of
tiny marine animals in a process that could accelerate global warming, a scientist said on Monday.
7
William Howard of the University of Tasmania in Australia described the findings as an early-warning
signal, adding the research was the first direct field evidence of marine life being affected by rising acidity
of the oceans.
Oceans absorb large amounts of CO2 emitted by mankind through the burning of fossil fuels. The
Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica is the largest of the ocean carbon sinks.
But scientists say the world's oceans are becoming more acidic as they absorb more planet-warming
CO2, disrupting the process of calcification used by sea creatures to build shells as well as coral reefs.
Laboratory experiments had earlier predicted these impacts.
Howard and co-author Andrew Moy, also of the University of Tasmania, studied the shells of tiny
amoeba-like animals called foraminifera in the Southern Ocean and compared the shell weights to data
from sediment core records dating back 50,000 years.
Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience, show shell weights of modern-day
foraminifera falling between 30 and 35 percent.
"The big challenge will be how do we scale up this kind of change to understand what it means for the
ecosystem. And to be honest, we don't know yet," he told Reuters.
The implications for climate change were clearer, he said.
CARBON TRANSFER
Foraminifera, which live on the ocean's surface, play a major role in trapping CO2 and transporting it to
the ocean depths where it can be locked away for decades or more.
Disrupting this process could accelerate climate change.
Foraminifera, he said, comprise a significant proportion of all the carbonate shell material produced in the
ocean.
"Their presence and production helps facilitate the sinking of organic matter from the surface layers of the
ocean into the deep ocean," said Howard, project leader of the ocean acidification team at the Antarctic
Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre.
"That translates into the transfer of carbon from the atmosphere into the deep ocean. If these organisms
are not calcifying as much it may translate into a reduction in the carbon transfer from the atmosphere."
Oceans are alkaline and Howard said that a century ago, oceans had a pH of 8.2, with a pH of 0 being
battery acid and 13 being household bleach.
Oceans were now just under 8.1, he said.
"We've already changed the pH of the ocean by about 0.1. At these levels this represents about a 30
percent increase in the acidity of the oceans," Howard said.
"Anything that makes a shell is going to have a hard time making that shell."
The big challenge was understanding the ocean's response to climate change and what happens to
ecosystems. The Southern Ocean was one of the first areas scientists will see this kind of shift, Howard
said, in part because it is a major carbon sink.
"There's no question acidification is going to affect every part of the ocean because every part of the
ocean is taking up CO2 from man-made emissions," he said.
(Editing by Paul Tait)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51928
Planetark.org | David Fagarty | March 9, 2009
Has Recession Trimmed CO2 Output? We'll Know By
2010
SINGAPORE - The financial crisis has slashed industrial output and trade but it will be months before
there is an accurate picture of how much the downturn has curbed greenhouse gas emissions, two
leading scientists said on Friday.
Preliminary data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows carbon
dioxide levels rose last year to a global average of 384.9 parts per million, an increase of 2.2 ppm over
2007.
But since then, the financial crisis has deepened, and analysts have been hoping the long-term growth in
emissions will slow or stall now that many big economies are in recession.
So far though, preliminary trends do not show this and it could be 2010 before an accurate picture
emerges.
"To see the effect of this recession, if it's reducing emissions, I'd say it would take one to two years to see
that signal properly in the atmosphere. I don't think we've seen any signal yet," said Paul Fraser of
Australia's state-backed Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
8
CSIRO runs one of a global network of monitoring stations that measure atmospheric concentrations of
planet-warning greenhouse gases including CO2, methane and nitrous oxide. California-based Scripps
Institution of Oceanography is also part of the network.
CAPE GRIM
Measurements are done about every two hours at the site at Cape Grim in the far southern Australian
state of Tasmania.
"You already have a huge bank of these gases in the atmosphere so the changes you're making to the
emissions each year have a relatively small impact on current concentrations," said Fraser, chief research
scientist at CSIRO's division of Marine and Atmospheric Research in Melbourne.
"You're looking for subtle changes and there are lots of process that can contribute to those and
sometimes it takes years to see the underlying pattern that you might think should have been there
earlier," he told Reuters.
A major task was filtering out "synoptic noise" from weather patterns moving the gases around locally and
across the planet.
He said his team studying the stream of data from Cape Grim regularly checked for trends.
"We keep saying one of the huge drivers of these CO2 increases is the 1 to 2 percent growth that's been
going on for a long time in the global economy and clearly that's not happening at the moment.
"So you would expect to see a signal, yes. I just don't know how quickly we can resolve that from the
noise."
Preliminary data from a NOAA monitoring station at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii shows CO2 levels
at 386.66 ppm in January this year, compared with 385.16 ppm a year earlier and 382.62 ppm in January
2007.
Ralph Keeling, director of Scripps' CO2 programme, said stopping a CO2 rise would require roughly a 57
percent drop in fuel emissions.
"What we would expect to see eventually is a slowing in the rise of CO2 tied to the reduction in emissions,
not a cessation of the rise," he told Reuters in an email.
"But it will probably take a year or more to clearly pick out this change. Our records suggest that CO2 is
still rising, as expected."
(Editing by Alex Richardson)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51932
Planetark.org | Timothy Gardner | March 9, 2009
NY Gov Considers Change In 10-State Carbon Pact
NEW YORK - New York's governor is considering giving, rather than auctioning, a greater amount of
permits that allow power plants to emit carbon dioxide in a regional climate pact and environmentalists
charge it would cut millions of dollars in revenues to develop clean energy.
"Like with all new complex programs, we reserve the right to make changes to the program once we have
actual experience with implementation," said Governor David Paterson's deputy press secretary Morgan
Hook.
New York was the founding member of the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which early this
year became the first pact in the country to regulate emissions of the main greenhouse gas, carbon
dioxide.
As part of the agreement, the states agreed to supply polluters with 188 million permits, each of which
allowed the emission of one ton of the pollution over three years.
So far the majority of the tradable permits have been sold in quarterly auctions, while the rest have been
given to polluters.
The most recent auction in December brought the states nearly $107 million for clean energy and energy
efficiency programs.
The pact seeks to cut overall emissions by limiting carbon pollution. That gives power plants an incentive
to cut emissions so they can sell unused permits to plants that have not cut pollution.
New York gave away 1.5 million permits, but had requests from industry for more than 6 million
allowances. At the price permits went for in December's auction, giving away 6 million permits could save
power plants nearly $17 million.
Environmentalists charge that giving away more allocations would cut revenues for clean energy and
send the wrong signal on emissions regulations to Washington.
President Barack Obama says he wants the United States to adopt a cap-and-trade program and to
auction 100 percent of the allowances in such a market mechanism. His budget released last week
9
estimated the government would receive $646 billion from such a program from 2012 to 2019. Obama
has proposed the proceeds would go toward investing $15 billion annually in clean energy technology
and tax credits.
Environmentalists said Paterson had been pressured by power producers, looking for cost savings, to
give away more of the credits.
Hook confirmed that Paterson had met with the head of a power industry group but has made no
commitment to increase the number of free allowances. Should more permits be given away, Hook said it
would not significantly cut the amount of money raised as the majority of allowances would still be
auctioned.
Any changes to the way New York participates in the plan would not affect the next auction, which is
slated to take place March 18, or the following two in June and September.
"The real losers will be the citizens of New York who will potentially be denied the conservation and
renewable energy benefits that would be funded from the sale of carbon allowances that the governor
would apparently prefer to give away to polluters," said James Van Nostrand, the director of the Energy
and Climate Centre at Pace Law School.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51934
Planetark.org | Karen Jacobs | March 9, 2009
US Energy-Saving Appliance Push Could Fall Flat
ATLANTA - Appliance sellers and manufacturers hope the US government's green energy initiatives will
mean more tax credits to jolt sagging sales of dishwashers, water heaters and washing machines.
But experts caution that incentives alone may not be enough to convince cost-conscious consumers to
buy these higher-efficiency appliances, which tend to carry higher price tags, if home sales stay weak.
"A $300 million efficiency initiative is not going to make things better if housing is worse," said David
Schick, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus.
The stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama last month allocates $300 million to
fund the Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, which is intended to offer consumer rebates for
purchasing ENERGY STAR-rated appliances that meet US energy-saving standards.
Many details remain to be worked out before the new rebates roll out. But some retailers are making sure
they're prepared to help shoppers redeem the expected dollar savings whenever they arrive.
Sears Holdings Corp. said its systems are equipped to help buyers apply for state, manufacturer or utilitysponsored energy rebates in its stores when a qualifying appliance is purchased.
"We think it can help with sales in 2009 so we're very bullish about it," said Doug Moore, president of
home appliances for Sears Holdings, which is the biggest US appliance retailer.
As recession, rising unemployment and falling home values force consumers to delay buying houses or
investing in renovations that often result in the purchase of new appliances, others are more sceptical of
the benefits of rebates.
"From a holistic perspective I would think as someone who tracks the category pretty closely those sort of
programs would probably not be quite as effective right now, when a larger amount of the sales of major
appliances are due to replacements," said Mark Delaney, director of the home division with market
researcher NPD Group.
SLIDING DEMAND
In 2008, US industry shipments of major appliances fell to 68.2 million units, their lowest level since 2002,
according to data from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
This year top manufacturer Whirlpool Corp projects that US appliance shipments will crumble 10 percent.
In recent months, some consumers have even delayed replacing appliances when they break down, the
company has said.
As the housing boom faded, energy savings have become a prime selling point for refrigerators and
washing machines.
For instance, an Energy Star-rated Whirlpool Duet front-loading washer priced at $1,098 at one store
carries a label that says it saves up to 70 percent on water and energy compared with machines
produced before 2004.
These days, consumers are more likely to try energy-saving appliances only if they can see the savings in
real dollars.
"While consumers certainly want to do the right thing in terms of saving the environment, they are really
focused on green as it relates to cost savings," NPD's Delaney said.
Manufacturers say incentives to encourage the making of energy-efficient appliances along with
consumer initiatives can also help make energy-saving appliances more commonplace.
10
"With the right incentives given to the manufacturers, say in the form of a tax credit, we don't have to
depend on the consumer being willing to pay a premium for more efficient products," Whirlpool
spokesman Tom Catania said. "We will just shift our production over to the higher levels of efficiency
because the incentive will help compensate us for the cost of the investment."
(Reporting by Karen Jacobs, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51936
Planetark.org | Timothy Gardner | March 9, 2009
Scientists Map US Rocks That Soak Up CO2
NEW YORK - Certain rocks abundant on the US East and West coasts may one day be coaxed to absorb
emissions of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide at a rate that could slow climate change, scientists
say.
"One day this could be an incredibly useful tool to help fight global warming," said Sam Krevor, the lead
author of a new study by scientists at Columbia University's Earth Institute and the US Geological Survey
that maps such rocks in the United States.
Scientists have long known that rocks naturally absorb carbon dioxide over thousands of years by binding
it with minerals to form solids like calcium carbonate, a common substance found in rocks and the main
component of snail shells and eggshells. When their surfaces are dissolved by weathering and natural
cycles, the rocks absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it re-crystalises.
Scientists have speeded up that process in the laboratory by grinding rocks and adding a catalyst like
sodium citrate to dissolve them. The rocks then reform in minutes, absorbing carbon dioxide.
But that process occurs on too small a scale and requires too much energy and other inputs to tackle the
vast volumes of carbon dioxide blamed for global warming.
MORE RESEARCH NEEDED
So scientists are looking to natural rock outcroppings, which they hope can be forced to absorb CO2
faster than happens naturally. One method could involve boring into rock and injecting it with hot water
and pressurized carbon dioxide.
More research needs to be done to determine whether this is feasible. But if it works, it could reduce the
need for an emerging sequestration industry that aims to capture carbon dioxide from such facilities as
coal-fired power plants for injection deep underground for permanent storage.
The world is looking to limit emissions of greenhouse gases like CO2 as climate scientists warn that their
elevated global levels could lead to higher temperatures, causing deadly floods, droughts, heat waves
and stronger storms.
Some 6,000 square miles (15,540 sq km) of rocks rich in the minerals olivine and serpentine that could be
supercharged to absorb carbon dioxide lie on or near the surface in California, Oregon and Washington,
and along the entire Appalachian belt of eastern North America from Alabama to Newfoundland,
according to the study.
Similar rocks are also abundant in Oman and in the Pacific islands of Papua New Guinea and Caledonia
and along the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Krevor said the US rocks could potentially absorb 500 years' of the country's CO2 emissions. The United
States is the world's second-largest carbon dioxide emitter after China.
"The problem is not going to be a lack of rocks, it's getting them to do the job," Krevor said.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51937
Planetark.org | March 9, 2009
China Pledges $2 Billion For Tibet Environment
BEIJING - China has pledged to spend 15 billion yuan (US$2.19 billion) over two decades to protect the
environment in Tibet, which is at serious risk from global warming, the official China Daily reported on
Friday.
The cash would fund projects to preserve grasslands, woods and wetland, protect endangered animals,
grow "forest shelter belts" to protect against gales, and expand clean energy, the paper quoted the
region's governor, Qiangba Puncog, as saying.
It was not clear if the "Ecological Protection Plan of Tibet" covered a series of hydropower projects
planned for the region's rivers, which are the source for many of Asia's great waterways.
Environmentalists oppose the dams which they say will threaten the region's fragile ecology.
11
Scientists say the rivers are already at risk from climate change because warmer weather is shrinking the
glaciers that feed them. Glaciers around Mount Everest, which spans Tibet and Nepal, have shrunk 170
metres in the past decade.
Temperatures in high-altitude Tibet rose by 0.32 degrees Celsius every 10 years between 1961 and
2007, above the world and national averages for the same period, the China Daily said.
The effects of global warming on the varied and complex mountain landscape appeared to be mixed,
experts said last year.
In Tibet's west, there was a clear trend to a hotter and drier climate, turning grasslands into desert.
But in Tibet's centre and east, climate change so far appeared to be bringing a warmer, wetter climate
that was filling, rather than shrinking, lakes.
(US$1=6.840 Yuan)
(Reporting by Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Nick Macfie)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51941
Planetak.org | Tom Doggett and Ayesha Rascoe | March 9, 2009
US Energy Secretary Pledges To Fight Global
Warming
WASHINGTON - US Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Thursday pledged to work with Congress to pass
legislation that would impose a cap-and-trade system to curb greenhouse gas emissions and fight global
warming.
"Such legislation will provide the framework for transforming our energy system to make our economy
less carbon-intensive, and less dependent on foreign oil," Chu said at a Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee hearing.
The Obama administration wants to cap carbon emissions from US power plants, oil refineries and other
industrial sites, then auction permits to exceed those limits. Plants that then lower their emissions could in
turn sell their permits to other facilities that pollute more.
"If we, our children and our grandchildren are to prosper in the 21st century, we must decrease our
dependence on oil, use energy in the most efficient ways possible, and decrease our carbon emissions,"
Chu said.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat who chairs the energy panel, said earlier that any climate
bill that passes the Senate is unlikely to adhere to the administration's plan that the government auction
all the permits to emit greenhouse gases because such a plan would be too harsh on big industry.
Instead, Bingaman said any Congressionally developed system capping and trading emissions probably
will include carbon allowances given to polluters like cement factories and coal-burning power plants,
along with permits that are sold.
Auctioning 100 percent of the permits would essentially make polluters pay quickly for emissions. In the
European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme, emissions permits were given away to polluters at first.
This led to a glut of permits and windfall profits for some emitters.
Bingaman said he thinks the chances of passing a climate change bill are "reasonably good," but it is not
likely the Senate would approve legislation that does not provide companies with some free allowances
for carbon emissions.
"I think it's unlikely we will pass a cap-and-trade bill with 100 percent auction," Bingaman told reporters at
the Platts Energy Podium.
He said such a system has the risk of substantially increasing the burden on some utilities and major
emitters.
"I don't know that you can properly buffer that without some allocation of allowances in ways other than
auctioning," Bingaman said.
He said lawmakers must evaluate how many allowances to give out and what industries will receive them.
"There needs to be a substantial burden on anyone who would claim a right to an allowance without
having to buy it at auction," Bingaman said.
In his proposed federal budget for the 2010 spending year released last week, Obama reiterated his
support for a cap-and-trade system that auctioned 100 percent of the permits. Obama's budget proposal
estimated the government would receive $646 billion from such a program from 2012 to 2019.
Obama wants proceeds from the cap-and-trade system to go toward investing $15 billion annually in
clean energy technology and a "making work pay" tax credit.
(Reporting by Tom Doggett and Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by David Gregorio)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51945
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Iht.com | Andrew C. Revkin | March 9, 2009
Gathering of contrarians takes on 'climate alarm'
NEW YORK: More than 600 self-professed climate skeptics are meeting in New York this week to
challenge what has become a broad scientific and political consensus: that without big changes in energy
choices, humans will dangerously heat up the planet.
The three-day International Conference on Climate Change - organized by the Heartland Institute, a
nonprofit group seeking deregulation and unfettered markets - brings together conservative campaigners,
scientists, a former astronaut and the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus.
Organizers say the discussions, which began Sunday, are intended to counter the Obama administration
and Democratic lawmakers, who have pledged to tackle global warming with legislation requiring cuts in
the greenhouse gases that scientists have linked to rising temperatures.
The participants hold a wide range of views on climate science. Some concede that humans probably
contribute to global warming, but they argue that the shift in temperatures poses no urgent risk. Others
attribute the warming, along with cooler temperatures in recent years, to solar changes or ocean cycles.
But large corporations like Exxon Mobil, which in the past financed the Heartland Institute and other
groups that challenged the climate consensus, have reduced support. Many such companies no longer
dispute that the greenhouse gases produced by burning fossil fuels pose risks.
Joseph Bast, president of the Heartland Institute, said that Exxon and other companies were shifting their
stance to improve their image. The Heartland event, he said, was the last bastion of intellectual honesty
on the climate issue.
But Kert Davies, a climate campaigner for Greenpeace who is attending the Heartland event, said that the
experts giving talks were "a shrinking collection of extremists" and that they were "left talking
to themselves."
Organizers expected to top the attendance of about 500 at the first Heartland conference, last year. They
also point to the speaker's roster, which includes Klaus and Harrison Schmitt, a geologist, Apollo
astronaut and former senator.
A centerpiece of the 2008 meeting was the release of a reportexpressly designed to challenge reports
from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
This year, the meeting will focus on a more nuanced question: "Global warming: Was it ever a crisis?"
Most of the talks at the meeting will challenge climate orthodoxy. But some presenters, including
prominent figures who have been vocal in their criticism in the past, say they will also call on their
colleagues to synchronize the arguments they are using against plans to curb greenhouse gases.
In a speech Sunday, Richard Lindzen, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a
longtime skeptic of the mainstream consensus that global warming poses a danger, first delivered a biting
attack on what he called the "climate alarm movement."
There is no solid scientific evidence to back up the models used by climate scientists who warn of dire
consequences if warming continues, he said. But Lindzen also criticized widely publicized assertions by
other skeptics that variations in the sun were driving temperature changes in recent decades. To attribute
short-term variation in temperatures to a single cause, whether human-generated gases or something
else, was erroneous, he said.
Speaking of the sun's slight variability, he said, "Acting as though this is the alternative" to blaming
greenhouse gases "is asking for trouble."
Fred Singer, a physicist often referred to by critics and supporters alike as the dean of climate
contrarians, was to run public and private sessions Monday aimed at focusing participants on which
skeptical arguments were supported by science and which were not.
"As a physicist, I am concerned that some skeptics (a very few) are ignoring the physical basis," Singer
said in an e-mail message.
There are notable absences from the conference this year. Russell Seitz, a physicist from Cambridge,
Massachusetts, delivered a speech at the meeting last year. But Seitz, who has lambasted environmental
campaigners for distorting climate science, now warns that the skeptics are in danger of doing the same
thing. The most strident advocates on either side of the global warming debate, he said, are "equally
oblivious to the data they seek to discount or dramatize."
John Christy, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Alabama who has long publicly questioned
projections of dangerous global warming, most recently at a House committee hearing last month, said he
had skipped both Heartland conferences to avoid the potential for "guilt by association."
Many participants said that any division or dissent was minor and that the global recession and a series of
years with cooler temperatures would help in fighting changes in energy policy.
13
But several climate scientists who are seeking to curb greenhouse gases strongly criticized the meeting.
Stephen Schneider, a climatologist at Stanford University and an author of many reports by the UN panel,
said, after reviewing the text of presentations for the Heartland meeting, that they were efforts to
"bamboozle the innocent."
Yvo de Boer, head of the UN office running the meetings leading to a new global climate treaty, said, "I
don't believe that what the skeptics say should provide any excuse to delay further" action against
global warming.
But he added: "Skeptics are good. It's important to give people the confidence that the issue is being
called into question."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/09/america/climate.php?page=2
March 10
Canadaeast.com | March 10, 2009
Chaleur Greening Initiative presents guest speaker
The Chaleur Greening Initiative will present a free public session by Carl Duivenvoorden on March 18 at 7
p.m. at Ecole Secondaire Nepisiguit.
Carl Duivenvoorden was raised on a dairy farm in Belledune, and attended the Nova Scotia Agricultural
College. His diverse career has taken him to more than 25 countries, from New Zealand to Vietnam to
Brazil.
In 2006, he read An Inconvenient Truth, the book by former U.S. vice-president Al Gore that catapulted
climate change to the top of the global agenda. In April 2007, he became one of the first Canadians to be
personally trained by Mr. Gore. Since then, he has presented An InconvenientTruth more than 150 times
to more than 21,000 people across Atlantic Canada, in both English and French.
Formerly with Efficiency New Brunswick, Mr. Duivenvoorden now makes his living as a speaker, writer
and consultant, helping people and organizations learn how they can save money, energy and our
environment. He continues to present Al Gore’s message about our global climate crisis to as many
audiences as possible.
Few issues are as complex, everchanging and important as the environment.
If you’re like most people, you probably want to do the right thing – but if you’re like most people, you’re
probably not exactly sure just what that the right thing is. And, amid the daily flood of new information,
how do you sort fact from fiction? Mr. Duivenvoorden can help.
His aim is to help each of us understand the importance of taking better care of our planet, and to invite
everyone to personally take on a green challenge.
http://thenorthernlight.canadaeast.com/search/article/597671
Canadaeast.com | Judy Gibson | March 10, 2009
Letters | Problems in St. John's mirror what's in store
for Fredericton
Re. UNB Woodlot development
I live in St. John's, Newfoundland, but I grew up in New Brunswick and went to the University of New
Brunswick for a couple of years.
I have family living in Fredericton who have told me there is pressure to develop the woodlot above the
UNB campus.
My husband and I have long fought for the retention of natural environments in cities as the most
important factor in flood control. Both cities are prone to flooding at lower levels. In St. John's, there is a
large watershed out of which several rivers flow towards St. John's harbour and Quidi Vidi Gut, a small
harbour in the east end of the city.
Tributary streams have been put underground and channelized, culverts improperly installed, storm
sewers often are not cleared, and because of climate change, heavy precipitation is happening more
frequently.
The city council has ignored the warnings of experts such as my husband and other scientists, including
many at Memorial University, who point out the errors in city plans. Development and tax revenues take
14
precedence over property values, wildlife, and of course, human health and even our lives are put in
danger by flooding.
Our home (built in 1840) was not on the flood plain when we purchased it; but the following year the flood
plain was redrawn and our insurance does not cover any flood damage. This has happened to many
people.
As a result of our experiences with our council, I did a lot of research and was able to confirm that trees
and urban forests are primary factors in absorbing rain and snow, releasing it more slowly so that flash
flooding is less likely to occur.
St. John's still will not pay attention. I know that Fredericton residents and businesses, supported by
intelligent scientific advice from knowledgeable sources, have protested plans to develop the woodlot.
Councillors and planners are culpable if they make decisions which fail to recognize the danger of
removing any part, no matter how small, in Fredericton, which has even worse floods than we do here in
St. John's.
Judy Gibson
St. John's, NL
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/597809
Planetark.org | Michael Kahn | March 10, 2009
Warm Weather Could Cause Migraines, Study Finds
LONDON - Warmer weather and changes in atmospheric pressure may trigger headaches and migraines,
rather than pollution, researchers said on Monday.
A US research team showed that each temperature increase of 5 degrees Celsius -- about 9 degrees
Fahrenheit -- appeared to increase the risk of severe headaches by nearly 8 percent compared to days
when the weather was cooler.
Air temperature, humidity and barometric pressure are often cited as a reason for headaches but until
now there has been little concrete evidence to back this, Kenneth Mukamal of Beth Israel Deaconess
Medical Center in Boston and colleagues said.
His team studied than 7,000 men and women diagnosed with a headache or migraine at the hospital
emergency room between May 2000 and December 2007.
They used meteorological and pollutant monitors to analyse air temperature, barometric pressure,
humidity, fine particulate matter, black carbon and sulphur dioxides during the three days prior to the
hospital visits and then later on.
"In other words, our study design was able to directly compare weather and air pollution conditions right
before an emergency room visit with those same factors measured earlier and later the same month,"
Mukamal said.
The study found that of all the environmental factors tested, higher air temperature in the 24 hours before
a hospital visit was most closely associated with headache symptoms.
Lower barometric pressure also appeared to be a trigger, though the association was not as strong.
There was no evidence that air pollutants played a role in sparking headaches, but bigger studies are
needed to exclude this as a problem, the researchers added.
The findings published in the journal Neurology suggest the weekly forecast could help people ready their
medication to ward off headaches.
"We wanted to find out if we could verify this 'clinical folklore,'" Mukamal said in a statement. "These
findings help tell us that the environment around us does affect our health, and in terms of headaches,
may be impacting many, many people on a daily basis."
The reason is unclear but researchers know warmer weather leads to lower blood pressure, and there is
good evidence migraines are related to changes in blood flow around the brain, Mukamal added in a
telephone interview.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Maggie Fox and Dominic Evans)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51962
15
Planetark.org | Gina Keating | March 10, 2009
Disney Sets Plan To Cut Carbon Emissions To Zero
LOS ANGELES - The Walt Disney Co said Monday that it planned to cut carbon emissions from fuels by
half by 2012, and ultimately to achieve net zero direct greenhouse gas emissions at its office and retail
complexes, theme parks and cruise lines.
Disney also set a long-term goal to cut to zero the nearly 300,000 tons of waste it sends to landfills, much
of it from construction, through diverting some to recycling centres, composting and buying more postconsumer recycled materials.
The company pledged to reduce water use as well as emissions and waste associated with the
manufacture, transport, use and disposal of Disney products.
The environmental plan was released a day ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting in its
"corporate responsibility" report. The entertainment conglomerate is joining a growing number of US
corporations that have pledged to improve carbon and ecological footprints by a certain date, or have
already done so.
"Current scientific conclusions indicate that urgent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are required
to avert accelerated climate change," the report said. "A successful response to these challenges
demands fundamental changes in the way society, including businesses, use natural resources, and
Disney is no exception."
The company said it worked with Conservation International to measure its actual electricity consumption
and carbon emissions in 2006 to establish a baseline.
By 2013, Disney plans to reduce electricity consumption by 10 percent compared with its 2006 baseline
at existing assets, and to develop a plan to "aggressively" pursue renewable electricity sources, the report
said.
To get to zero net direct emissions, Disney plans to find efficiencies to cut emissions and to replace highcarbon fuels with low-carbon alternatives, then use "high-quality offsets" for what is left.
Disney also plans to buy clean electricity from utilities and invest in clean electricity projects, in addition to
taking steps to conserve, the report said.
The company set 2013 as its goal for cutting solid waste to landfills by half of its 2006 baseline.
(Reporting by Gina Keating; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51963
Planetark.org | March 10, 2009
China Group Urges Government To Stick To Green
Goals
BEIJING - A Chinese environmental group on Monday urged the government not to backtrack on
cleaning air and water despite the economic slowdown, asking parliament to ensure stimulus spending
does not prop up pollution.
China's abrupt economic slowing has cut pollution, but environmental advocates worry the government's
desire to bolster growth and jobs may encourage its 4 trillion yuan (US$585 billion) stimulus plan into laxly
regulated cement, steel and coke plants and deter effective environmental scrutiny of new projects.
Friends of Nature, a Chinese environmental group, issued a letter to the National People's Congress now
meeting in Beijing urging delegates to ensure the stimulus spending announced late last year goes to
clean projects.
"Use the 4 trillion yuan investment to pioneer a green, low-carbon economy," said the letter, issued at a
news conference.
"Don't sacrifice the long-term objectives of conserving energy and reducing emissions for the sake of
protecting high energy-consuming industries that have no future."
The government has said it will stick to its efforts to cut pollution and raise energy efficiency and that
projects seeking money from the stimulus funds must pass environmental assessment.
"We will make every effort to save energy and reduce pollution," the National Development and Reform
Commission, which steers industrial policy, said in a report to the annual session of the Communist Partycontrolled parliament last week.
The government set a target of cutting two benchmark pollution measures by 10 percent between 2006
and 2010 and improving "energy intensity" -- the fuel needed to generate each dollar of national income -by 20 percent by the same date.
16
But some experts at the release of the letter and an accompanying report on China's environment were
not confident that such promises can be met when local officials are fixed on protecting growth, revenues
and jobs.
"To fundamentally overcome these problems, we must transform the mode of growth," said Li Dun, a
public policy professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
"Without comprehensive reform...it will be difficult to fundamentally transform the environment."
(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51965
Planetark.org | March 10, 2009
Campaigners Call For More Fines As Litter Rises
LONDON - More fines should be handed out to litterbugs as figures show the amount of rubbish left
around Britain has rocketed in the last few decades, a report published on Monday said.
Since the 1960s, there has been a 500 percent increase in the level of litter strewn across the country,
leaving local authorities with a clean-up bill of 500 million pounds, the study said.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Policy Exchange think tank which carried out
the research called for a new national body to coordinate anti-littering initiatives and tougher action on
offenders.
"Fines are an essential enforcement tool, and one which needs to be applied far more consistently than is
currently the case," said author Bill Bryson, President of the CPRE.
Companies in heavily littered areas lose business and rubbish creates a sense of neglect in local
communities, fuelling anti-social behaviour and crime, the report said.
It added that 37 percent of people questioned thought that a lack of bins justified littering and than more
than nine in 10 thought providing more bins would help reduce the problem.
Campaigners called for deposit schemes whereby people are paid to return bottles and cans, saying
similar projects abroad had proved successful.
"Over time, if we better educate people and stop the perception that litter is somehow `someone else's
problem', then we can get to the root causes of this blight on our towns and countryside," said Ben
Caldecott, Head of the Policy Exchange's Environment and Energy Unit.
The report said there was inconsistent use of fines, with too few councils using the power and a tendency
not to penalise the worst offenders such as young urban males, whom wardens saw as threatening and
dangerous.
"We need community buy-in to the fight against litter; we must build civic pride in clean and tidy
environments, with communities competing to be spotless," Bryson said.
"Only then can we stop the exasperating and routine vandalism of a country so rich in natural, cultural
and built heritage."
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51968
Environmantalresearchweb.org | Belle Dumé | March 10, 2009
What price bottled water?
Bottled water is proving costly for the planet, in terms of economics, energy consumption and damage to
the environment. Producing and transporting spring water from Evian in France to Los Angeles in the US,
for example, requires over 10 MJ of energy per litre, about 2000 times the energy cost for producing tap
water. With sales of bottled water continuing to increase at a staggering rate worldwide, concerns
regarding its use need better evaluation.
Despite worries about waste generation from plastic bottles, good use of groundwater and economic
costs, bottled water sales around the world are increasing at a rate of 10% a year. In 2007, more than
100 billion litres of water were sold, mostly in North America and Europe but also increasingly in many
developing countries. This is equivalent to total costs of around $100 billion per year for the consumer.
And it is estimated that more than half the American population regularly drinks bottled water – a
surprising fact, given the quality and low cost of tap water in the US.
So what is the energy cost of producing bottled water? Heather Cooley and colleagues at the Pacific
Institute in California, US, have quantified the energy required in the various processes needed to
produce, transport and use bottled water. Writing in Environmental Research Letters, the researchers
17
conclude that the energy footprint of bottled water increases as the distance to transport the water
increases.
For example, transporting water a distance of around 200 km by truck requires roughly 1.4 MJ of energy.
In contrast, water produced in France and shipped to the US East Coast and then transported by road or
rail to Los Angeles requires 5.8 MJ. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, the US alone
consumes around 33 billion litres of bottled water a year (or 110 litres per person), which is equivalent in
energy terms to between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil, or 0.3% of the total US primary energy
consumption. Cooley and colleagues say that about three times this amount of energy is needed to
satisfy the global demand for bottled water.
So what strategies can we adopt to reduce the energy footprint of our drinking water? Switching to tap
water is the most obvious solution: "Tap water is far less energy intensive than bottled water and water
filters can be used to improve its flavour," says Cooley. "But if one is to purchase bottled water, then
locally produced water is less energy intensive than that requiring long distance transport," she told
environmentalresearchweb.
Lighter bottles containing less of the plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET), such as those proposed by
companies like Nestlé (12.2 grams for a half-litre bottle, or 24.4 g/l) and Coca-Cola (who recently
introduced a new 20-ounce bottle weighing 18.6 grams, or 31.5g/l) also require less energy to make.
The Pacific Institute team says its data could be used to generate site-specific estimates for different
bottled water sources and delivery options. "As efforts to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions intensify, this data may provide useful information for prioritizing reduction strategies and
inform policy," explained Cooley.
http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/research/38143
March 11
Planetark.org | Ingrid Melander | March 11, 2009
Green Protest At EU HQ, 350 Arrested
BRUSSELS - Green protesters demanding more money to tackle climate change blocked the main
entrance to European Union headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday and Belgian police said they arrested
more than 350 of them.
"Save the climate, bail out the planet," chanted the group of Greenpeace activists, who chained
themselves to the gates outside the EU Council, where ministers were discussing how much the bloc
should contribute to a climate change fund.
The United Nations plans to meet in December to find a successor to the Kyoto protocol, the main U.N.
tool against global warming, and success could hinge on finding cash for the fund to persuade poor
nations to help tackle the problem.
Belgian police spokesman Christian De Coninck said police arrested over 350 demonstrators. All would
go free on Tuesday but could be prosecuted for taking part in an unauthorized demonstration, he added.
Greenpeace said in a statement that three activists were injured as a result of police action and were in
hospital. De Coninck said he had not heard of any injuries and would have been informed if that was the
case.
Before the police dislodged the demonstrators, a Reuters photographer said no one could get in or out of
the main entrance of the building, which also has a back door.
Thomas Henningsen, Greenpeace International climate campaigner said: "Finance ministers are giving
billions of taxpayers' money to failed banks, but we're here to make sure they also put money on the table
to tackle climate change.
"If the planet were a bank they would bail it out."
Poor nations blame rich countries for causing climate change and say they do not do enough to help the
poor adapt, for example by creating crops that are resistant to drought or floods and helping build barriers
to counter rising sea levels.
Greenpeace wants European governments to contribute 35 billion euros ($44 billion) a year to the climate
fund for poor nations.
Europe and the United States are seen as the main potential sources of finance, and the EU is now
debating the size and source of its contribution.
Industry should be the main source of money for a climate fund to coax the world's poorest nations into a
global deal to tackle climate change in December, a draft report for the meeting of European finance
ministers said.
(Reporting by Yves Herman, Marine Hass and Ingrid Melander; Writing by Ingrid Melander, Editing by
Jonathan Wright)
18
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51983
Planetark.org | Gelu Sulugiuc | March 11, 2009
Sea Levels Rising Faster Than Expected: Scientists
COPENHAGEN - The U.N.'s climate change panel may be severely underestimating the sea-level rise
caused by global warming, climate scientists said on Monday, calling for swift cuts in greenhouse
emissions.
"The sea-level rise may well exceed one meter (3.28 feet) by 2100 if we continue on our path of
increasing emissions," said Stefan Rahmstorf, professor at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact
Research. "Even for a low emission scenario, the best estimate is about one meter."
Rahmstorf spoke at the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen.
The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007 predicted global warming would cause
sea levels to rise by between 18 cm and 59 cm (7 inches and 23 inches) this century.
The IPCC said at the time the estimate could not accurately take into account factors such as the melting
of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Many scientists criticized the number as too conservative.
"The ice loss in Greenland shows an acceleration during the last decade," said veteran Greenland
researcher Konrad Steffen, director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
"The upper range of sea-level rise by 2100 might be above one meter or more on a global average, with
large regional differences depending where the source of ice loss occurs," he said.
John Church, a researcher at the Center for Australian Weather and Climate Research in Hobart, said
rising oceans will lead to more frequent devastating floods in coastal areas.
The faster humans limit carbon dioxide emissions, the greater the chance to avoid the most extreme
scenarios, he said.
"We could pass a threshold during the 21st century that can commit the world to meters of sea-level rise,"
he said. "Short-term emission goals are critical."
Early reductions of emissions are much more effective than actions later in the century, the scientists
said.
"With stiff reductions in 2050 you can end the temperature curve (rise) quite quickly, but there's not much
you can do to the sea-level rise anymore," Rahmstorf said. "We are setting in motion processes that will
lead to sea levels rising for centuries to come."
(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51981
Planetark.org | Simon Gardner | March 11, 2009
Britain's Prince Charles Sees Time Running Out To
Save Planet
SANTIAGO - Time is running out to save the world from the ravages of climate change and prevent
economic meltdown and a flood of environmental refugees, Britain's Prince Charles has warned on a visit
to Chile.
The Prince of Wales, and his wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, are in Chile at the start of a Latin American
tour to promote energy efficiency and measures to combat climate change.
"If we do nothing, the consequences for every person on this earth will be severe and unprecedented,
with vast numbers of environmental refugees, social instability and decimated economies -- far worse
than anything which we are seeing today," he told a gala dinner hosted by Chilean President Michelle
Bachelet late on Monday.
Charles argues sustainable development projects could help stimulate the global economy as it battles
crisis. "How can we begin to address poverty if we haven't first ensured our planet is actually
inhabitable?" he said.
Charles, heir to the British throne, has long advocated urgent measures to reduce carbon emissions and
has also proposed issuing long-dated bonds to help fund sustainable development projects in countries
where tropical rainforest is being wiped out.
He and his wife were set to visit the port city of Valparaiso on Tuesday and an organic vineyard later in
the day, before flying on to Brazil on Wednesday and then later on to Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, which
were central to 19th century British naturalist Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
(Editing by Frances Kerry)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
19
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51979
Planetark.org | Peter Henderson | March 11, 2009
Climate Change Accelerates Water Hunt In U.S. West
SAN FRANCISCO - It's hard to visualize a water crisis while driving the lush boulevards of Los Angeles,
golfing Arizona's green fairways or watching dancing Las Vegas fountains leap more than 20 stories high.
So look Down Under. A decade into its worst drought in a hundred years Australia is a lesson of what the
American West could become.
Bush fires are killing people and obliterating towns. Rice exports collapsed last year and the wheat crop
was halved two years running. Water rationing is part of daily life.
"Think of that as California's future," said Heather Cooley of California water think tank the Pacific
Institute.
Water raised leafy green Los Angeles from the desert and filled arid valleys with the nation's largest fruit
and vegetable crop. Each time more water was needed, another megaproject was built, from dams of the
major rivers to a canal stretching much of the length of the state.
But those methods are near their end. There is very little water left untapped and global warming, the
gradual increase of temperature as carbon dioxide and other gases retain more of the sun's heat, has
created new uncertainties.
Global warming pushes extremes. It prolongs drought while sometimes bringing deluges the parched
earth cannot absorb. California Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow says two things
keep him up at night: drought and flood.
"It isn't that drought is the new norm," said Snow. "Climate change is bringing us higher highs and lower
lows in terms of water supplies."
Take Los Angeles, which had its driest year in 2006-2007, with 3 inches (7.6 cms) of rain. Only two years
earlier, more than 37 inches (94 cms) fell, barely missing the record.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought emergency last month, and Los Angeles
plans to ration water for the first time in 15 years. Courts are limiting the amount of water taken from into
rivers to save decimated fish populations, which is cutting back even more to farms.
California farmers lost more than $300 million in 2008 and economic losses may accelerate to 10 times
that this year as 95,000 people lose their jobs. Farmers will get zero water from the main federal supplier.
Nick Tatarakis sank his life savings into the fertile San Joaquin Valley but now thinks his business will die
of thirst.
"Every year it seems like this water thing is getting rougher and rougher," he said. "I took everything I had
saved over the last three or four years, put it into farming almonds, developed this orchard. Now it is
coming into its fifth year and probably won't make it through this year."
SWINGING TEMPERATURES, PRICES
In the global economy, a little trouble goes a long way when supplies are tight, said University of
Arkansas Ecological Engineering professor Marty Matlock.
The essence of climate change is greater swings in precipitation -- and thus food production. At times of
peak demand, prices can skyrocket, he said, as happened to food prices last year.
"There's no slack any more. The rope is tight, and if you give it a tug, it yanks on something," he said.
While farmers suffer, cities continue to grow. The sunny, warm American West remains a magnet.
"Add water and you have the instant good life," said James Powell, author of "Dead Pool," a book about
global warming and water in the U.S. West.
"For the last few years, the driest states, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada, have been the fastest growing. And
you know that can't be sustained," he said.
California, the world's eighth-largest economy, already uses a staggering amount of water -- roughly
enough to cover the nearby state of Washington with a foot (30 cms) of it.
Some 80 percent is used by farms, growing organic lettuce on the temperate coast; rice and citrus inland.
Almost anything will grow in the ideal climate -- if there is water.
California water planners in a draft report see three different scenarios for the state by 2050. In the most
unfettered, suburbs sprawl ever-farther, replacing productive farms with water-soaking lawns and the
population doubles -- as does urban water use. In the best case scenario for water use, the population
increases about 20 percent, but denser housing and conservation help keep urban water use roughly
steady.
All of the scenarios show agricultural output dropping -- it is just a question of how much.
Businesses, too, have much to fear. Semiconductor manufacturers and beverage companies are high on
a list of at-risk sectors in a report on corporate water by Pacific Institute and investor group Ceres.
SLOW CHANGE
20
Change is happening too slowly, nearly all water planners say, but they disagree about what to do and
which options are financially viable, especially the expensive dam projects favored by agricultural
interests.
Climate change's challenge to traditional water supplies starts in the mountains. The snow-capped
Sierras in eastern California and the Rockies farther east fuel rivers that provide a steady supply of water
through much of the year.
The Sierras will have 25 percent to 40 percent less snow by 2050 as rising global concentrations of
greenhouses gases raise the temperature, California's water department forecasts.
The U.S. Climate Change Science Program sees the entire West on average getting less precipitation,
but there is plenty of debate about that. There is a consensus, however, that most of today's snow will
turn in coming decades to rain, often in the form of blinding thunderstorms early in the year, when it is
needed least.
California wants to raise or build new dams to catch the increased flow as part of a broad set of solutions.
"There is no one silver bullet," the water department's Snow said.
But the Natural Resources Defense Council and a Los Angeles business coalition see dams as a costly
solution that mostly favors farmers.
"The dams are an expensive detour that I don't think will ever be built," said Lee Harringon, executive
director of the Southern California Leadership Council, a group of urban public utilities and other
businesses.
A study by his group put the price of new dams at up to $1,400 per acre foot. Current supplies cost about
$700 for one acre foot -- a year's supply for two houses. Urban water conservation costs $210, local
stormwater $350 and desalination of ocean water or contaminated groundwater about $750 to $1,200 an
acre foot.
The NRDC estimates that California could get 7 million acre feet per year from conservation, groundwater
cleanup and stormwater harvesting.
Even energy-intensive desalination is cheaper than dams, the group argues. "People always used to think
that desal was the lunatic fringe of water supply. (Now) desal is the mainstream, and dams are exiting the
mainstream," said policy analyst Barry Nelson.
But so far water is the cheapest utility in most homes and businesses, and it's treated that way.
"As long as you are undervaluing a resource, you are going to be perpetually short," said Robert
Wilkinson, director of the Water Policy Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Many see water's pricing future following that of electricity. Despite the energy crisis of the early 2000s,
California leads the nation in controlling electricity use. One key strategy was letting utilities charge more
when consumers use less, making power producers advocates for conservation.
But the simple conclusion is that the West must secure a water supply, even at a high price, says
business advocate Harrington.
"While these options are expensive, the options of not having the water makes them all viable at the end
of the day," he said.
(Editing by Alan Elsner)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51978
Planetark.org | Pascal Fletcher | March 11, 2009
Tidal Wave Of Trash Threatens World Oceans
MIAMI - A tidal wave of man-made trash is threatening world oceans, damaging wildlife, tourism and
seafood industries and piling additional stress on seas already hit by climate change, conservationists
said on Tuesday.
A report by U.S.-based Ocean Conservancy detailed what it called a "global snapshot of marine debris"
based on itemized records of rubbish collected by nearly 400,000 volunteers in 104 countries and places
in a single day in September 2008.
Close to 7 million pounds (3.2 million kg) of trash -- the weight of 18 blue whales -- was collected from
oceans, lakes, rivers and waterways in the 2008 cleanup, the group said in its report "A Rising Tide of
Ocean Debris and What We Can Do About It".
It warned of a "tidal wave of ocean debris," calling it a major pollution problem of the 21st century.
Topping the list of the 11.4 million items of trash collected were cigarette butts, plastic bags, and food
wrappers and containers. In the Philippines alone, 11,077 diapers were picked up and 19,504 fishing nets
were recovered in Britain.
"Our ocean is sick, and our actions have made it so," Vikki Spruill, president and chief executive of Ocean
Conservancy, said in a statement accompanying the report.
21
"We simply cannot continue to put our trash in the ocean. The evidence turns up every day in dead and
injured marine life, littered beaches that discourage tourists, and choked ocean ecosystems," she said.
"By changing behaviors and policies, individuals, companies, and governments can help improve the
health of our ocean, the Earth's life support system."
The full report, including a country-by-country Marine Debris Index, was published at
www.oceanconservancy.org.
ANIMALS KILLED, TOURISM HURT
Detailing how refuse poisoned oceans and waterways, the report said the waste entered the food chain,
injured beachgoers and weakened economies by sapping precious dollars from tourism and seafood
industries.
Thousands of animals, including marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and others, choked or were
poisoned each year by eating trash, or drowned when they became entangled in bags, ropes and old
fishing gear.
The 2008 cleanup volunteers found 443 animals entangled or trapped by marine debris, releasing 268
alive.
"Keeping our ocean free of trash is one of the easiest ways we can help improve the ocean's resilience as
it tries to adapt to the harmful effects of climate change such as melting ice, rising sea levels, and
changing ocean chemistry," Ocean Conservancy said.
It recommended public and private partnerships to monitor and reduce marine trash and increased
funding for research on the problem. A policy of "reduce, reuse, recycle" would help lower trash levels,
combined with technological solutions.
"Trash doesn't fall from the sky, it falls from our hands," Spruill said. "Humans have created the problem
of marine debris, and humans should step up and solve it."
Ocean Conservancy said its next International Coastal Cleanup would be held around the world on
September 19.
(Editing by Jim Loney and John O'Callaghan)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51977
Canadaeast.com | March 11, 2009
NB announces long-term management plan for Crown
forests
A new long-term management approach for Crown forests that "balances ecological and economic
priorities" was released by the Government of New Brunswick.
The announcement was made by Premier Shawn Graham, Natural Resources Minister Wally Stiles and
Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne in response to two reports concerning New Brunswick's
Crown forests and forest industry. Both reports were released in August, and public meetings and other
consultations followed.
"Our government is committed to a forest industry that is strong and competitive and a forest that is
vibrant and healthy," said Graham. "The forest industry has a strong future and will be a major contributor
to a self-sufficient New Brunswick."
The Report of the New Brunswick Task Force on Forest Diversity and Wood Supply, more commonly
known as the Erdle report, was prepared for the Department of Natural Resources and provided
alternatives for the future management of Crown forests.
"Our new sustainable management approach for Crown forests will allow us to generate increasing yields
of a wider variety of tree species in the future and will maintain the diversity and important ecological
features of our Acadian forest," said Stiles. "In fact, we'll see a renewed abundance of some tree species
associated with the Acadian forest that have declined over the past 70 years."
Business New Brunswick commissioned a report from consultants Don Roberts of CIBC World Markets
Inc. and Peter Woodbridge of Woodbridge Associates Inc. to provide advice on investment opportunities
in the province's forest sector.
Byrne said he endorsed the position that the province's forestry sector is an economically and
environmentally sustainable growth industry with a bright future.
"We are embracing forest products as an area of growth," he said. "Our involvement in the re-opening of
the AV Nackawic mill and its repositioning to produce a new product line is a prime example of how we
are helping industry exploit this potential. We are also working to strengthen the industry base by helping
to improve productivity and competitiveness within the sector."
The Task Force on Forest Diversity and Wood Supply was chaired by Thom Erdle of the University of
New Brunswick, and it put forward a range of management approach alternatives.
22
Stiles said his department received more than 600 e-mails and letters related to the Erdle task force
report.
"All of this input has contributed to the sustainable management policy for Crown forests that has been
adopted by government," he said.
The province has chosen a hybrid version of the models presented in the Erdle report. It incorporates
elements of various alternatives in the report as well as the array of input the Department of Natural
Resources received following its release.
The major features of the new approach are:
- The conservation forest will make up between 23 and 25 per cent of the total Crown forest, including the
portion designated as protected natural areas. The conservation forest is managed primarily for
conservation purposes although some wood harvesting is permitted except within the protected natural
areas; protected natural areas, which make up four per cent of Crown lands, will increase to between six
to and eight per cent;
- At least 30 per cent of the total Crown forest will be comprised of old forest; in areas where the
combination of late successional tree species dominate, clear cutting will not be permitted so that these
species are retained. Late successional tree species are long-lived species that include sugar maple,
hemlock, cedar, white and red pine and yellow birch. This mixture of tree species is an integral part of the
traditional Acadian forest;
- Wood supply objectives will be established for six species of softwood and hardwoods. These objectives
will promote larger-dimension trees with sawlog potential. Currently, management goals exist only for
spruce/fir and total hardwood, and they were not specific to large-dimension trees. Having a mix of tree
species is also a hedge against climate change and the impact it could have on individual tree species;
and plantations will be limited to a maximum level of 28 per cent of the Crown forest area and will be
planted with a variety of tree species.
Graham announced that an additional $5 million will be invested in Crown land silviculture beginning in
2009-10. This will bring the total investment in silviculture operations on Crown land to more than $25
million annually.
Stiles said government intends to work with industry on performance standards and accountability related
to silviculture operations on Crown land.
"These plantations are at the heart of an increasing Crown wood supply, so it is important that we get the
best results possible from our silviculture operations," he said.
The new management approach will establish objectives for renewed Crown forest management plans
that will be implemented in 2012. It is based on long-term planning and extends over 100 years. The
forecast is for a 75 per cent increase in Crown wood supply after 50 years.
"The wood supply from Crown land will be increasing over time and for a wider range of tree species, but
there will be no new wood available tomorrow," Stiles said. "In the short term, the wood supply from
Crown land will not be increasing."
He said government has an objective to maintain the current annual allowable cut for softwood when new
management plans come into effect in 2012.
The challenge will be greater on the hardwood side, and Stiles said government will work closely with
industry to find ways to mitigate what could potentially be a substantial reduction in the annual allowable
cut of hardwood on Crown land. One part of the solution will be an increase in hardwood silviculture, he
said.
"We are also going to have to look at other solutions, including using all available hardwood in our
province," he said. "This means that private woodlots will have to take on an increasingly important role in
meeting industry's wood fibre needs. By industry, wood producers and government all working together,
we can overcome this short-term challenge and ensure we have a sustainable supply of wood."
Stiles said the strength of the forest management approach is that it produces a sustainable, predictable
and dependable wood supply over the long term, while also addressing conservation needs. "A
dependable, growing wood supply that includes a wider variety of tree species opens the door to new
investments in our forest industry and to new products," he said. "Our existing forest industry can plan for
the future and make investments that will allow them to succeed in a very competitive industry, and we'll
be able to more easily market New Brunswick to new investors."
Byrne said the advice contained within the Woodbridge-Roberts report will inform and influence his
department's policy as it works to support the province's forest industry.
Business New Brunswick will continue to market the forest products manufacturing sector as a key
investment opportunity to outside companies, and it supports New Brunswick companies exporting to new
markets, he said.In addition, Byrne said his department will encourage industry and private woodlot
owners to work toward establishing a partnership that ensures competitive prices and long-term supply
stability of wood fibre, whether it comes from private or Crown land.
23
Business New Brunswick will also continue to work with industry, Efficiency NB and NB Power to help
mills develop co-generation capacity, adding green energy to the province's electrical grid and reducing
dependency on fossil fuel power generation.
The government's recent support of sector companies, including Irving Paper, J.D. Irving Ltd.'s Deersdale
sawmill and Grand Lake Timber mill, Fraser Papers, Groupe Savoie, Flakeboard and Future Alternative
Wood Products, demonstrates its commitment to helping the forest industry be strong and competitive in
New Brunswick.
"This industry is a key growth sector that will help New Brunswick achieve its goal of self-sufficiency by
2026," said Byrne. "That is why we must continue to maintain a balanced approach over the long term
that will respect the management of the forest while encouraging the growth and success of the forest
industry."
http://victoriastar.canadaeast.com/search/article/598833
Canadaeast.com | Carl Duivenvoorden | March 11, 2009
Life in a fish bowl
What's good for the environment is often really good for our economic prosperity too. Conserving
resources, especially those that come from far away, makes sense because it preserves our environment
and keeps dollars in our pocket.
Sound too good to be possible?
The fish tank
To understand, imagine a fish tank. It's teeming with all kinds of fish, large and small, and it looks just like
one you might see at the pet shop, except for two things. One, it has a drain at the bottom with a constant
stream of water leaking out; and two, it has a hose at the top, with a steady flow of fresh water coming in.
In general, all the fish in the tank get along well. However, they are happiest when the tank is full to the
brim with fresh, clean water. When the water level drops down, the fish get a little stressed.
The interpretation
Now look at the picture this way. The fish tank is the entire New Brunswick economy, and the water is
money.
The hose feeding water into the tank represents our exports, things we sell outside NB. They bring dollars
into the province.
The drain at the bottom represents our imports, things we bring in from elsewhere. We have to pay for
them, so they take dollars out of the province.
By now, you've probably figured out what, or who, the fish represent. The only question is, are you a big
fish or a small fish?
The last detail is the amount of water in the tank, or the amount of money in our economy. When there's a
lot, everyone is happy and life is good. But when the levels drop, things get worrisome.
Keeping the level up
So the best way to ensure happiness and harmony for all is to make sure our tank stays as full as
possible. There are two ways to do that.
The first is to increase the flow of water coming in - or to export more. A quick glance at trade statistics
shows that the bulk of our province's home-grown exports are resource-based: fish, lobster, pulp, paper,
lumber, potatoes, French fries and potash. Most of these are commodities, so we don't have much control
over their prices. We could fish more fish, grow more potatoes and cut more trees, but each has its limit.
Plenty of arguments are made that we're already doing some of those things today at levels that are
unsustainable. We could ship more potash, but because it's non-renewable, every tonne we ship now is
one less tonne future NBers will be able to ship.
The other — and easier way — to keep our tank full is to reduce the water flowing out the drainpipe, or
import less. This is where what's good for the environment is good for the economy.
You see, New Brunswick's biggest import is energy. We bring in oil and coal by the boatload. True, much
of the oil is turned into gasoline and re-exported. But plenty of it is used here too, to power our vehicles,
heat our homes and spin the turbines at Coleson Cove and Dalhousie. Colombian coal is used in
Belledune.
24
Beyond being the source of most NB greenhouse gases, all of this energy is a huge drain in our collective
fish tank - and as you've just read, replacement water is hard to come by. How many two by fours does it
take to buy a barrel of oil? How about a supertanker of oil?
Plug that drain
Presented this way, the formula becomes pretty simple, doesn't it? Less fossil fuel energy imported
means less greenhouse gas emissions, which is good for the environment. It means more dollars kept in
our pockets, which is really good for us.
Want to do your part to keep the tank full and the fish - including those important yet-to-be-hatched baby
fish - happy? Here's the best place to start: use less electricity, use less gasoline.
http://tribunenb.canadaeast.com/boundaries/article/598917
Foxnews.com | March 11, 2009
Survey: Two-Fifths of Americans View Dangers of
Climate Change as Exaggerated
Concerns about global warming are exaggerated, 41 percent of Americans believe.
That's the highest amount of skepticism ever recorded by Gallup's annual Environment Survey, which has
been going steadily since 2001.
Fifty-seven percent said the seriousness of climate change as portrayed in the news media was correct or
underestimated, a record low.
The two figures each tend to bounce around within a 10-point range, and the previous level of skepticism
was recorded in 2004, when 38 percent thought global warming hype was overblown and 58 percent
thought news coverage was either fair or not worrisome enough.
The opposite trend was visible in 2001 and 2006, when 30 percent of respondents were skeptical and 66
percent either satisfied or even more worried.
Reponses broke down predictably this year according to political orientation. Sixty-six percent of selfidentified Republicans thought publicized warnings about climate change were exaggerated, as did 44
percent of independents and 22 percent of Democrats.
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Age patterns were more complicated. Thirty-one percent of people aged 18 to 29 were skeptical, the
same as last year, while 47 percent of those 65 and earlier were — but a year ago, only 33 percent of the
over-65 cohort felt the same way.
The two cohorts in the middle, 30-49 and 50-64 years of age, also saw their levels of skepticism rise
several percentage points.
Only 38 percent of respondents felt that climate change posed "a serious threat" to themselves within
their own lifetimes, down from 40 percent in 2008.
The survey polled 1,012 adults via telephone from March 5-8.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509030,00.html
March 12
Planetark.org | Deborah Zabarenko | March 12, 2009
EPA Offers First Carbon Reporting Plan
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed a comprehensive
U.S. system for reporting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, a step toward
regulating pollutants that spur climate change.
The new plan for a carbon registry would affect fossil fuel suppliers, automakers and companies that emit
at least 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases a year, the EPA said in a statement.
The U.S. government already has statistics on emissions from coal-fired power plants, which also emit
carbon dioxide.
Some 13,000 facilities, accounting for about 85 percent to 90 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions,
would be covered under the proposal.
25
"Our efforts to confront climate change must be guided by the best possible information," EPA
Administrator Lisa Jackson said. "...This is a critical step toward helping us better protect our health and
environment -- all without placing an onerous burden on our nation's small businesses."
Forty-one states already participate in a voluntary plan, called The Climate Registry, which measures and
reports greenhouse emissions, and the EPA acknowledged this work.
President Barack Obama has been vocal in his support for a market-based cap-and-trade plan to limit
carbon emissions to try to stem global warming. Members of Congress have already begun working on
legislation that would make this happen.
"This is an important foundation step toward regulating greenhouse gases and reducing them," David
Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council said by telephone after meeting with EPA officials.
APPLAUSE FROM CAPITOL HILL
On Capitol Hill, the EPA's plan drew applause from key lawmakers, including California Democratic
Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, who helped provide $3.5 million to EPA to set up a
greenhouse gas emissions registry for all sectors of the U.S. economy by June 26, 2009.
On a parallel track, a draft EPA presentation made public by the online publication Greenwire indicates
the agency plans to issue a so-called endangerment finding in mid-April that calls greenhouse pollution a
danger to human health.
After a public comment period and public hearings, that could allow EPA to regulate it under the Clean Air
Act.
The Clean Air Act mandates collecting data on emissions from electric power plants, but a 2007
congressional move to require big industries and the transportation sector to report on how much carbon
they emit was blocked by the Bush administration.
The EPA's plan envisions the new reporting requirements going into effect by next year, with the first
annual report submitted to the environment agency in 2011 for the 2010 calendar year.
The rules would apply to companies that make fossil fuels, industrial chemicals, cars and engines, the
agency said, along with large so-called direct emitters that send 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide or
more each year into the atmosphere.
"The vast majority of small businesses would not be required to report their emissions because their
emissions fall well below the threshold," the EPA said.
Direct emissions sources that would be required to report their emissions include energy-intensive sectors
like cement production, iron and steel production and electricity generation.
Complying with this reporting rule would cost the private sector $160 million for the first year, with
annualized private sector costs estimated at $127 million in subsequent years, the agency said.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52001
Planetark.org | Gelu Sulugiuc | March 12, 2009
Aid Needed To Boost World's "Green" Energy
COPENHAGEN - Wind and solar power could produce 40 percent of the world's electricity by 2050, but
only if government subsidies are secured for the next two decades, scientists said on Wednesday.
The technologies will each need global support totaling 10 billion to 20 billion euros ($12.76 billion to
$25.51 billion) per year, said Peter Lund, professor in advanced energy systems at Helsinki University of
Technology.
Without financial and political support, he said wind and solar power would only account for less than 15
percent of the world's energy output.
"With favorable conditions, solar and wind energy could be replacing coal, which is the worst enemy for
us. We have to give them political preference, as it used to be done for nuclear energy in the 1970s,"
Lund told the International Scientific Congress on Climate Change in Copenhagen.
He said with a strong deployment programme and supportive policies, wind power could break even
between 2020 and 2025, while solar power could break even closer to 2030.
In November, the International Energy Agency said if the world managed to limit global warming to 2
degrees Celsius by 2030 -- a scenario many scientists already see as hopeless -- renewable sources of
energy would account for 40 percent of global electricity generation.
To limit warming to 3 degrees, renewables would make up 23 percent of global power generation.
Scientists said intermittent electricity such as that from wind is now still 50 percent more expensive
compared to baseload electricity from coal or nuclear.
"We need policies that promote investment in supply chains to avoid long waiting times and price spikes,"
said Anthony Patt, a researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg,
Austria.
26
To fully exploit the potential of wind and solar power, electricity grids will have to be modernized and
national electricity markets will have to be integrated, scientists said.
"We have a huge challenge ahead of us in integrating different sources of intermittent power," said Poul
Erik Morthorst, a scientist at the National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy in Riso, Denmark.
Eventually, the subsidies will lead to cheaper electricity when wind and solar power become commercially
viable, Lund said.
"We could have 25 percent of our power come from wind and 15 percent from solar," he said. "Without
support, by 2050 we will only have 10 percent from wind and 5 percent from solar, which means that
these technologies will be fully marginalized."
(Editing by Katie Nguyen)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51997
Planetark.org | Tim Gaynor and Steve Gorman | March 12, 2009
Fast-Growing Western U.S. Cities Face Water Crisis
LAS VEGAS/LOS ANGELES - Desert golf course superintendent Bill Rohret is doing something that 20
years ago would have seemed unthinkable -- ripping up bright, green turf by the acre and replacing it with
rocks.
Back then "they came in with bulldozers and dynamite, and they took the desert and turned it into a green
oasis," Rohret said, surveying a rock-lined fairway within sight of the Las Vegas strip. "Now ... it's just the
reverse."
The Angel Park Golf Club has torn out 65 acres of off-course grass in the last five years, and 15 more will
be removed by 2011, to help conserve local supplies of one of the most precious commodities in the
parched American West -- fresh water.
But Rohret's efforts have their limits. His and many other golf courses still pride themselves on their
pristine greens and fairways and sparkling fountains, requiring huge daily expenditures of water.
Aiming to cut per capita use by about a third in the face of withering drought expected to worsen with
global warming, water authorities in the United States' driest major city are paying customers $1.50 per
square foot to replace grass lawns with desert landscaping.
Built in the Mojave Desert, Las Vegas leads Western U.S. cities scrambling to slash water consumption,
increase recycling and squeeze more from underground aquifers as long-reliable surface water sources
dry up.
From handing out fines for leaky sprinklers to charging homeowners high rates for high use, water
officials in the U.S. West are chasing down squandered water one gallon at a time.
Nowhere is the sense of crisis more visible than on the outskirts of Las Vegas at Lake Mead, the nation's
largest manmade reservoir, fed by the once-mighty Colorado River. A principal source of water for
Nevada and Southern California, the lake has dipped to below half its capacity, leaving an ominous, white
"bathtub ring" that grows thicker each year.
"We are in the eye of the storm," said Pat Mulroy, general manager of the Southern Nevada Water
Authority. "As the realities of climate change began to manifest themselves at the beginning of this
century, we had to get serious about it."
For now, policymakers have emphasized the need to curb water use rather than urban growth, though the
U.S. recession has put the brakes on commercial and housing development that otherwise would be at
odds with the West's water scarcity.
GETTING TOUGH
Warm, dry weather has long made the American West attractive to visitors, but piped-in water has
created artificial oases, luring millions to settle in the region. Las Vegas has ranked as one of the fastestgrowing major cities.
But scientists say climate change is shriveling the snow pack in California's Sierra Nevada, the state's
main source of fresh surface water, and in the Rocky Mountains that feed the Colorado River, whose
waters sustain seven states.
Further pressure from farming and urban sprawl is straining underground aquifers, placing a question
mark over the future growth of cities from Los Angeles to Tucson, Arizona.
"There is going to have to be a big adjustment in the American Southwest and in California as we come to
grips with limits in this century -- not just limited water, but also limited water supply," said James Powell,
author of the book "Dead Pool," exploring challenges facing planners in the West.
Reactions among local water authorities differ.
In Phoenix, the United States' fifth-largest city, authorities say sustainable groundwater and ample
surface water allocations from the Colorado and Salt rivers meet the city's needs, even factoring in growth
27
through a moderate drought. The city is also recycling waste water and plans to pump some back into the
aquifer as a cushion.
Tucson will require new businesses to start collecting rainwater for irrigation in 2010.
California requires developers of large housing projects to prove they have sufficient water.
In Las Vegas, where rain is so infrequent that some residents can remember the days it fell in a given
year, front-yard turf has been banned for new homes.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority also has hired "water cops" to fan out into the suburbs to identify
violations of mandatory lawn irrigation schedules and wasteful run-off. Repeat offenders get $80 fines.
Major hotel-casinos such as the MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment have adopted "green" building
codes, including modifications designed to slash water use by 40 percent.
Those measures are starting to pay off, with daily water use down 15 percent per person in the greater
Las Vegas area.
BUYING TIME
In a wake-up call to California, water officials there recently announced that prolonged drought was
forcing them to cut Sierra-fed supplies pumped to cities and irrigation districts by 85 percent.
That has led many California cities, topped by Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest, to plan for
rationing, including price-enforced household conservation and tough new lawn watering restrictions.
"The level of severity of this drought is something we haven't seen since the early 1970s," Los Angeles
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in unveiling his city's drought plan, which also would put more water cops
on the beat.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last month called on the state's urban users to cut water
consumption 20 percent or face mandatory conservation measures.
The California drought, now in its third year, is the state's costliest ever. Complicating matters are sharp
restrictions on how much water can be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in northern
California, which furnishes much of the state's irrigation and drinking supplies, to protect endangered fish
species.
Moreover, the severe dry spell is leaving the state more vulnerable to wildfires, which last year consumed
some several Los Angeles suburbs. The previous year, fires forced a record 500,000 Southern
Californians to flee their homes.
PLANNING FOR THE WORST
Conservation will buy time, experts say. But bolder steps are needed in anticipation of longer droughts
and renewed urban expansion once the recession ends.
Cities like Los Angeles and San Diego are revisiting an idea once abandoned in the face of staunch
political opposition -- recycling purified sewer water for drinking supplies.
Disparaged by critics as "toilet-to-tap," such recycling plans have gained new currency from the success
of the year-old Groundwater Replenishing System in Orange County near Los Angeles.
That system distills wastewater through advanced treatment and pumps it into the ground to recharge the
area's aquifer, providing drinking supplies for 500,000 people, including residents of Anaheim, home of
Disneyland.
Water specialists also see a need to capture more rainfall runoff that otherwise flows out to sea and to
change the operation of dams originally built for flood control to maximize their storage capacity.
The situation in Las Vegas has grown so dire that water authorities plan to build a $3 billion pipeline to tap
aquifers lying beneath a remote part of Nevada, a project critics call the greatest urban water grab in
decades.
Southern Nevada water czar Mulroy says a broader national conversation about water is needed -- but
not happening.
"We are talking about investing in public infrastructure, we are looking at building projects, but I get
frustrated because we are doing it in complete denial of the climate change conditions that we are facing,"
she said.
"We are not looking at where the oceans are rising, where the floods are going to occur, where things are
going to go from that normal state to something extraordinary."
(Editing by Alan Elsner)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51996
Planetark.org | Steve Gorman | March 12, 2009
Sea-Level Rise Poses New Flood Risk To California
LOS ANGELES - California's farms and cities may be left high and dry by prolonged drought, but climate
change is expected to leave much of the state's fabled shoreline awash in excess seawater before too
long.
28
Nearly 500,000 people and $100 billion worth of property in coastal California are at risk of severe
flooding from rising sea levels this century unless new safeguards are put in place, researchers reported
on Wednesday.
With global warming expected to lift ocean levels along the California shore by 1 to 1.4 meters (1 to 1.4
yards) before the year 2100, large tracts of the picturesque Pacific coast also will be lost to accelerated
erosion, their study found.
The report suggests that the heightened flood risk could be minimized by investing about $14 billion in a
system of newly built or upgraded sea walls, levees and offshore breakwaters to reinforce some 1,100
miles of coast.
But such coastal "armoring" structures come with their own cost, the loss of beaches.
The state-funded report from the Pacific Institute, an environmental think tank, marks the first sweeping
assessment of how California's entire 2,000-mile shoreline, including San Francisco Bay, and the millions
who live along it may be affected by higher sea levels.
The extent of elevated oceans assumed in the study were projected by California state researchers
working from medium- to high-greenhouse gas emissions scenarios of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental
Panel of Climate Change.
But Heather Cooley, co-author of the report, said it does not reflect the worst-case rise in sea levels that
might occur. Like most climate models, the study excludes the potential effects of melting ice sheets in
Greenland and Antarctica because of uncertainty over how they will play out, she said.
Instead, the higher sea levels anticipated in the study are attributed mostly to thermal expansion -- the
phenomenon by which water increases in volume as it warms.
AIRPORTS AND BIG SUR IN HARM'S WAY
Likely flood casualties include both the San Francisco and Oakland international airports, as well as 3,500
miles of roads and 280 miles of railways, 140 schools, 30 power plants and 29 wastewater treatment
facilities, the study found.
But some of the aesthetic beauty and recreational values associated with the California shore, one of the
state's prime natural assets, are at risk, including the famed central coastal cliffs of Big Sur. In all, 41
square miles of coast will be lost to erosion, according to the study.
"Changes to California coasts are inevitable," Cooley said. "We need to evaluate and assess what our
values are and which qualities of the coast we want to maintain."
Flood damage envisioned by the study would result from storm surges occurring with greater frequency
and intensity in low-lying areas once a safe distance from the shore. Areas that already lie within an
existing coastal flood plain would face even greater risk.
About 260,000 people live in flood-prone areas around San Francisco Bay and other low-lying coastal
communities up and down the state. That number would grow to 480,000 if sea levels were to rise 1.4
meters (1.4 yards) without any mitigating actions being taken, the report found.
Populations in San Mateo County, south of San Francisco, including the Silicon Valley towns of Palo Alto,
Mountain View and Sunnyvale, are considered especially vulnerable, along with parts of Orange County
south of Los Angeles.
The study estimates that nearly $100 billion worth of property, in year 2000 dollars, would be put in
harm's way from flooding -- two-thirds of it concentrated around San Francisco Bay. The majority of that is
residential.
Poor individuals and those of racial or ethnic minorities account for a disproportionate number of
residents at risk, even though many of the projected new flood zones lie in relatively affluent areas.
"A lot of people have wondered whether California will be the next (Hurricane) Katrina, and we do have a
lot of those conditions in place," said study co-author Matthew Heberger, speaking of the hurricane that
flooded New Orleans in 2005.
(Editing by Philip Barbara)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/51995
Planetark.org | Mica Rosenberg | March 12, 2009
Toxic Jatropha Shrub Fuels Mexico's Biodiesel Push
ROSARIO IZAPA - All his life elderly Mexican farmer Gonzalo Cardenas has planted a stalky weed that
grows wild in southern Mexico to form a sturdy live fence around his tropical fruit trees.
Now it turns out the weed, jatropha, could be used to fuel jet planes and the Mexican government wants
farmers to grow entire fields of it to turn into biodiesel.
Known locally as "pinon," jatropha is a hearty shrub that grows with no special care. Its oil-rich seeds are
being eyed as an attractive feed stock for biofuel since the poisonous plant does not compete with food
crops.
29
"I always had pinon around my corrals, just because it helped keep people off my land," said Cardenas,
78 and exhausted after helping one of his cows give birth at his farm in the balmy village of Rosario Izapa
insouthern Mexico.
Jatropha is native to Mexico and Central America but was likely transported to India and Africa in the
1500s by Portuguese sailors convinced it had medicinal uses.
Now India is planting the bush en masse, converting it into a green energy source used to power trains
and buses with less pollution than crude oil. Mexico hopes to follow suit.
President Felipe Calderon signed an agreement with the president of Colombia in January to build a 14.5
million peso ($936,000) experimental biodiesel plant in southern Mexico with a production capacity of
12,000 liters (3,170 gallons) of biofuel a day.
Mexico passed a law last year to push developing biofuels that don't threaten food security and the
agriculture ministry has since identified some 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres) of land with a high
potential to produce jatropha.
"If I had more land I would plant it because they say it's good business," Cardenas said, surrounded by
rare rambutan and mangosteen fruit trees.
Demand for the eco-friendly fuel could grow now that U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to
invest $150 billion over 10 years in renewable energy infrastructure.
GENETIC DIVERSITY
Continental Airlines ran a two-hour test flight in January of a Boeing 737 passenger plane powered with a
mix of jatropha and algae-based biodiesel, following the lead of Japanese and New Zealand airline
companies.
"The biofuel mix actually ran more efficiently and burned less fuel in total than the conventional (jet-fuel
powered) engine," Steve Lott, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association, or IATA, said.
The airline industry will consume 67 billion gallons of fuel this year, or 6 percent of the world's oil, a
concern for environmentalists as well as airline budgets, especially after the spike in gas prices last year,
Lott said.
The IATA wants all its members to use 10 percent renewable fuels by 2017. The challenge will be to
ramp up output of green fuels at a rate fast enough to meet growing demand.
Mexico is running tests to find jatropha varieties that produce the most oil with the least care. Some 300
different types are being monitored at a government research center in Rosario Izapa, near Mexico's
border with Guatemala.
In Guatemala, entrepreneur Ricardo Asturias has been promoting jatropha for the past eight years and
now has his own plantations and biodiesel factory. He says the region's genetic diversity will give it an
edge over competitors in Asia.
"This plant is native to Mesoamerica. In our nurseries we have 57 different varieties and we're not finished
yet," he said. "In India there are only three recognized varieties."
Once Mexican investigators find the optimal jatropha strain, they will distribute seeds to interested farmers
who like the fact the shrub is low maintenance.
"You sow it and it grows. It's not like corn," said Rafael de Leon, 39, his land ringed by bushy jatropha that
can grow taller than he is. "If there's money in it, we'll plant it."
(Editing by Jim Marshall)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52000
Canadaeast.com | March 12, 2009
Premier issues energy efficiency challenge
Challenge calls for top energy efficient practices
SAINT JOHN - The new Brunswick government has is challenging residents, businesses and
communities to showcase their best practices in energy efficiency and win bragging rights.
The province has launched the first Premier's Awards for Energy Efficiency in different sectors and is
asking for nominations.
"These awards will provide us with the opportunity to recognize and applaud the efforts of individuals,
communities, business and industry that are setting themselves apart as leaders in energy efficiency and
helping to move us toward our climate change goals," said New Brunswick Energy Minister Jack Keir.
The province is inviting public and business community to nominate either individuals, companies or
communities for one of the seven awards.
The energy efficiency awards categories are commercial sector, industrial sector, residential sector,
manufacturer, retailer, individual and community. The winners will receive the Outstanding Energy
Efficiency Achievement Award.
30
Deadline for the nominations is April 15. For additional information, visit the
www.efficiencynb.ca/premiersawards website. The winners will be announced May 25.
Documents and supporting material should be mailed to: 2009 Premier's Awards for Energy Efficiency.
Efficiency NB, Attn: Shannon Brittany, 35 Charlotte St. Suite 101, Saint John, N.B., E2L 2H3.
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/600661
Canadaeast.com | Heather McLaughlin | March 12, 2009
St. John River has city's full attention
Government officials of all stripes will have to keep a close watch on flooding this year through the St.
John River Valley to try to discern if climate change is causing worse floods, says Mayor Brad Woodside.
Provincial and city officials are keeping a close eye on weather patterns, snowmelt, temperature, and rain
and water levels to be alert to the potential for flooding.
Woodside said what public officials need know is whether a new year-over-year flood pattern is emerging.
Communities around the world have had to contemplate flood diversion tactics, floodways or relocating
homes out of flood zones and Woodside wants a wary eye kept on the future.
There's little point in spending taxpayers' money to rebuild and renovate flood-ravaged homes year after
year if they are going to face chronic, rather than occasional, flood woes, Woodside said.
"If it becomes more than once in a while, then it has to be addressed," he said. "How that would happen?
I don't know. It does cause tremendous hardship for people and it's very costly and it's very dangerous."
Fredericton had one of the worst floods on record in 2008, second only to the record-setting 1973 flood.
Although snowfall amounts in the northern part of the province haven't surpassed last year's accumulation
and the snowpack is estimated to contain less moisture than last year, there's an expectation that flooding
will occur again this spring.
How bad it will be, is anyone's guess.
"This could be another flood event and nobody knows that. Then again, next year could be," Woodside
said. "I can tell you that we should be looking ahead at the kinds of things that we may have to do."
Flooding throughout the St. John River Valley is a part of the region's history, but it's been periodic and
not devastating year over year.
"We expect it and every once in a while it's not good," Woodside said.
"We're talking about things that we weren't talking about a few years ago. One is climate change.
Whether or not that is an impact taking place.
"Will we continue to get hard winters with the kind of snowfall accumulation we've seen last year and this
year? Will the warm weather come earlier which all impacts water levels? ... If we start to see a trend,
then I think all three levels (of government) have to get together and start to do something."
Fredericton Police Force Chief Barry MacKnight is the chairman of the city's emergency measures
organization. He said the city expects to do an information hand out to residents in flood-prone sections of
Fredericton, reminding them to start planning, preparing and taking precautions.
While many residents know the flood-protection drill well, Woodside said newcomers may have moved
into flood-prone sections of the city since last spring's flood.
Information booklets are available from Public Safety Canada or at www.getprepared.ca, he said.
"It's important that people go to the website where they can get the information and then make the
decisions that they think are appropriate so they can be safe," MacKnight said.
"For me to speculate on what will happen with the river would be a fool's game."
The city will turn to the experts at the province and Environment Canada to keep a handle on events, but
there's no doubt it's time now to start thinking about flood preparedness, he said.
Preparation means storing enough food and water for up to 72 hours. It may mean moving items stored in
basements and sheds to higher ground or, even being ready to evacuate.
The New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization's River Watch starts Monday.
MacKnight said the city typically goes through two flood stages. Milder temperatures in early April can
create ice melt and movement that create ice jams that cause flooding.
Later in April and May, warmer temperatures coupled with spring rains will determine the rate of melt.
Officials say the perfect weather for harvesting maple syrup is also the perfect weather for mitigating
serious flooding. Cold nights and warm days create a freeze and thaw cycle that allows the ground and
river to gradually absorb water runoff.
Flooding in low-lying areas of the city occurs at 6.5 metres, although that doesn't take in residential areas.
The 1973 flood saw the St. John River at 8.61 metres. The 2008 flood saw river levels in Fredericton at
8.36 metres.
Floods have been recorded along the St. John River since 1696.
Major flood years have been 1887, 1923, 1936, 1973, 1979, 1994, 2005 and 2008.
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/600581
31
March 13
Planetark.org | Svetlana Kovalyova | March 13, 2009
Italy's Solar Power Flourishes With State Help
MILAN - While economic gloom engulfs much of the world's solar energy industry, government incentives
in sunny Italy are encouraging start-ups such as February's launch of photovoltaic panel maker V-energy.
Investors, ranging from families to Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo, have piled into the photovoltaic
market due to some of Europe's most generous incentives.
Privately-owned V-energy is betting on those to fuel solar energy demand and has not been put off by
frozen credit markets.
The Italian maker of photovoltaic (PV) panels -- which turn sunlight into power -- is being funded by
shareholders and regional development programmes.
"It was a strategic choice of the shareholders that alternative energy is a good business, the business of
the future," Miriam Dase, a V-energy consultant, told Reuters at a renewable energy fair in Genoa this
month.
"The market is good, despite the crisis. The main problem for the sector operators and clients is to get
bank financing. But the incentives are so appealing that people go for it," Dase said, echoing comments
from other sector operators at the fair.
Italy, Europe's third-biggest solar power producer after Germany and Spain, gets less than one percent of
its power from PV installations at present.
But industry body GIFI has estimated that PV capacity will see exponential growth to 16,000 megawatts
(MW) in 2020 from about 280 MW in 2008, fueled by the government incentives and Europe's renewable
energy targets.
"I would say (Italy's) plans are ambitious, but they are also realistic," said Thomas Gregory, senior analyst
at Emerging Energy Research (EER), an advisory and consulting firm.
BANKABLE PROJECTS
Italy's feed-in tariff -- the main element of the incentive scheme approved in 2007, which guarantees
operators up to 0.49 euros per kilowatt hour of produced power for 20 years -- has made the PV sector
something of a safe haven investment.
"It is like investing in government bonds, but it yields more," said Gianluca Bertolino, board member of
GIFI, which represents about 70 percent of the PV business in Italy.
Thanks to the feed-in tariff, investment in the Italian PV sector yields from 4.5 percent in the country's
north up to 10 percent in the south, according to estimates of internal rate of return (IRR) in the sector by
GIFI and Intesa Sanpaolo.
That compares with a 5.38 percent gross yield for a 20-year fixed-rate government bond sold by Italy's
Treasury at the latest auction in February.
Sunshine and hefty incentives allow Italian PV market operators to repay investments in 8-10 years on
average, faster than in many other European countries, industry experts said.
"On the annual income (from PV installations) basis, Italy has the best combination of solar resources and
a feed-in tariff in Europe," EER's Gregory said.
Government incentives which guarantee a steady cash inflow over 20 years also help would-be investors
open the doors of banks that have tightened project financing during the crisis.
"The feed-in tariff is a bankable contract that you can take to any solvent financial institution ... A banker
will look at it and say: 'Yes, it's a very good deal'," Gregory said.
As the credit crunch deepened in Italy, about 41 percent of companies reported last December that it had
become harder to get access to bank financing, Emma Marcegaglia, the head of Italy's industrialists' body
Confindustria, said in January.
But lending to the low-risk PV projects has powered ahead, said Carlo Buonfrate, energy desk
coordinator at bank Mediocredito Italiano, part of Intesa Sanpaolo group.
GRID PARITY
Once Italy reaches grid parity -- the price at which solar power becomes competitive with traditionally
produced electricity -- the PV sector would be able to stand on its own feet even if the government scraps
incentives, experts said.
"I think the incentives are necessary for at least one more year. The point of the feed-in tariff was to
encourage manufacturers to enter the sector. And they've succeeded in doing that," EER's Gregory said.
Abundant sunshine, the highest electricity prices in Europe and a sharp fall in PV module prices expected
in the next few years due to oversupply, should push Italy to reach grid parity in 2010, ahead of major
rivals, Gregory said.
32
Spain and Germany are expected to have competitive PV power generation in 2011 and 2012
respectively, he said.
Other industry experts forecast Italy reaching grid parity in 2012-2014, still ahead of many other European
countries.
(Editing by Anthony Barker)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52018
Planetark.org | Patrick Worsnip | March 13, 2009
Action Needed To Avoid World Water Crisis, U.N. Says
UNITED NATIONS - The world needs to act urgently to avoid a global water crisis due to increased
population, rising living standards, dietary changes and more biofuels production, the United Nations
warned on Thursday.
By 2030, nearly half of the world's people will be living in areas of acute water shortage, said a report
jointly produced by more than two dozen U.N. bodies and issued ahead of a major conference on water
to be held in Istanbul next week.
The report, "Water in a Changing World," made "clear that urgent action is needed if we are to avoid a
global water crisis," said a foreword by Koichiro Matsuura, head of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
"Despite the vital importance of water to all aspects of human life, the sector has been plagued by a
chronic lack of political support, poor governance and underinvestment."
"As a result, hundreds of millions of people around the world remain trapped in poverty and ill health and
exposed to the risk of water-related disasters, environmental degradation and even political instability and
conflict," Matsuura said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly identified water shortage as a major underlying
cause of the conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, which began with a rebellion against the central
government six years ago. Water is also a major issue between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The world's population of 6.6 billion is forecast to rise by 2.5 billion by 2050, with most of the growth in
developing countries, many in regions where water is already scarce.
The growth rate means demand for fresh water is increasing by 64 billion cubic meters a year, the report
said. Authors told a news conference that most of North Africa and the Middle East had already reached
the limits of their water resources.
BIOFUELS RISK
Migration from the countryside to cities was also increasing water use, the 318-page report said, as was
growing consumption of meat -- the production of which requires more water than vegetables -- in China
and elsewhere.
The report added to recent U.N. warnings about the downsides of developing biofuels to replace heavily
polluting hydrocarbons as an energy source, because of the water needed to grow crops like corn and
sugar cane to produce ethanol.
Saying about 2,500 liters of water is needed to make 1 liter of biofuel, it said implementing all current
national biofuel policies and plans would take 180 cubic kilometers of extra irrigation water and 30 million
hectares of cropland.
"The impact could be large for some countries, including China and India, and for some regions of large
countries, such as the United States," it said. "There could also be significant implications for water
resources, with possible feedback into global grain markets."
When oil prices peaked at over $140 a barrel last year, "the kneejerk reaction was 'well, we are going to
grow our energy - biofuels.' But nobody took account of how much water it was going to require," William
Cosgrove, coordinator of the report, told journalists.
On the positive side, the report pointed to successful water policies in Uganda and Turkey and said a
U.N. goal of halving the population lacking access to safe drinking water by 2015 would be achieved
except in sub-Saharan Africa.
But it said in many countries water policies failed to make any impact because key decisions affecting
water were made in other sectors of the economy.
Government and business leaders needed to act now to boost investment in water infrastructure, it said,
adding, "Unsustainable management and inequitable access to water resources cannot continue."
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52016
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Planetark.org | Will Dunham | March 13, 2009
Growing Pollution Leads To "Global Dimming": Study
WASHINGTON - Visibility on clear days has declined in much of the world since the 1970s thanks to a
rise in airborne pollutants, scientists said on Thursday.
They described a "global dimming" in particular over south and east Asia, South America, Australia and
Africa, while visibility remained relatively stable over North America and improved over Europe, the
researchers said.
Aerosols, tiny particles or liquid droplets belched into the air by the burning of fossil fuels and other
sources, are responsible for the dimming, the researchers said.
"Aerosols are going up over a lot of the world, especially Asia," Robert Dickinson of the University of
Texas, one of the researchers, said in a telephone interview.
Dickinson and two University of Maryland researchers tracked measurements of visibility -- the distance
someone can see on clear days -- taken from 1973 to 2007 at 3,250 meteorological stations worldwide.
Aerosols like soot, dust and sulfur dioxide particles all harmed visibility, they said in the journal Science.
The researchers used recent satellite data to confirm that the visibility measurements from the
meteorological stations were a good indicator of aerosol concentrations in the air.
The aerosols from burning coal, industrial processes and the burning of tropical forests can influence the
climate and be a detriment to health, the researchers said.
Other pollutants such as carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases are transparent and do
not affect visibility.
The data will help researchers understand long-term changes in air pollution and how these are
associated with climate change, said Kaicun Wang of the University of Maryland.
"This study provides basic information for future climate studies," Wang said in a telephone interview.
The scientists blamed increased industrial activity in places like China and India for some of the
decreased visibility, while they said air quality regulations in Europe helped improve visibility there since
the mid-1980s.
The aerosols can have variable cooling and heating effects on surface temperatures, reflecting light back
into space and reducing solar radiation at the Earth's surface or absorbing solar radiation and heating the
atmosphere, they added.
(Editing by Maggie Fox)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52015
Planetark.org | Deborah Zabarenko | March 13, 2009
"Mad" Microplants Show Antarctic Climate Change
WASHINGTON - You just don't want to make phytoplankton mad.
These microscopic sea plants are at the bottom of the food chain in the waters that surround the Antarctic
peninsula, and when they're unhappy, everything that depends on them suffers, including fish, penguins
and possibly, eventually, people.
A new study published on Thursday in the journal Science indicates that some of these Antarctic
phytoplankton have become increasingly grumpy over the last 30 years.
Like most plants, phytoplankton need food and sunlight to survive. For some that live off the west coast of
the Antarctic peninsula, getting these essentials has been an increasing challenge, with a 12 percent
decrease in phytoplankton populations seen in the last three decades.
U.S. researchers figured this out by looking at satellite data and tracking the amount of chlorophyll -- a
sign of phytoplankton photosynthesis -- in the Southern Ocean off the Antarctic peninsula, a long tail of
land that juts out from the main body of the continent and points toward South America.
This area is a good place to look for signs of climate change, because it is warming faster than any other
place on Earth in the winter.
Phytoplankton are excellent markers for climate change because they respond quickly, sometimes in as
little as a day, to varying environmental conditions, and because so much of the food chain relies on their
survival.
SUNLIGHT MAKES PHYTOPLANKTON HAPPY
Because atmospheric circulation patterns are shifting over the peninsula -- probably due to climate
change -- there are now cloudy skies where there used to be sunshine and vice versa, said study coauthor Martin Montes-Hugo of Rutgers University.
In the southern part of the peninsula, the clouds are decreasing and sunlight is melting the sea ice,
freeing up more open water that sunlight can shine through, Montes-Hugo said by telephone.
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"You have more open water and so you have light penetration, so the phytoplankton is happy in the
south," he said, because like most plants, phytoplankton need sunlight for photosynthesis.
In the northern part of the peninsula closer to the warm equator there are more clouds, and sea ice is
even more reduced than in the south. Changing atmospheric patterns are whipping up increasing winds
in the area, churning the ocean water, which enables the phytoplankton to go deeper. At these deeper
levels, the little plants can catch less sunshine.
"This makes phytoplankton mad," Montes-Hugo said. "It's not good for phytoplankton because you have
less light."
Phytoplankton, like other plants, absorb the climate-warming greenhouse gas carbon dioxide; less
phytoplankton means less of this gas will be absorbed.
A decrease in phytoplankton along the Antarctic peninsula results in less food for krill, the tiny
crustaceans that small fish eat, and on up the food chain to Adelie penguins and other creatures.
Adelie penguins are moving southward because the extreme Antarctic climate they require is no long
present in parts of the peninsula; Chin-strap penguins that can tolerate warmer temperatures are moving
into the area, Montes-Hugo said.
(Editing by Philip Barbara)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52014
Planetark.org | Matt Daily | March 13, 2009
Jury Rules Exxon Must pay $150 Million For Spill
NEW YORK - A jury in Baltimore County, Maryland on Thursday found oil company Exxon Mobil liable for
a gasoline spill three years ago and ruled it must pay residents $150 million in damages.
But the jury found the company was not liable for punitive damages the case in which 26,000 gallons of
gasoline leaked from a tank at a service station in Jacksonville, Maryland.
In a statement issued after the verdict, Exxon said it regretted the leak and it apologized to the
community, but said it believed the $150 million award was too high and it would weigh its legal options.
"We find the amount awarded inconsistent with the verdict in which the jury rejected the punitive damages
claims," the company said.
Plaintiffs in the case had asked for $2.5 billion in punitive damages, according to a report in the Baltimore
Sun.
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52012
Planetark.org | Louis Charbonneau | March 13, 2009
UN's Ban Says U.S. To Work For 2009 Climate Deal
UNITED NATIONS - The Obama administration will work with the United Nations to reach a climate
change deal acceptable to the world community by the end of 2009, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
said on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters after a two-day trip to Washington earlier this week, Ban said he and the new
American leader agreed completely on the urgency of tackling the problem of global warming.
"President Obama and I share a fundamental commitment -- 2009 must be the year of climate change.
That means reaching a comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen by year's end," the U.N. chief said at a
monthly news conference.
"With U.S. leadership, in partnership with the United Nations, we can and will reach a climate change deal
that all nations can embrace," he added.
The U.N. hopes to have a new global treaty on climate change in place at a conference in Copenhagen in
December. Some experts warn that the world will face more droughts, floods and rising seas if global
warming is not addressed soon.
Ban will attend the G20 leaders' summit in London next month amid fears that the issue could be pushed
far down the agenda by the global economic crisis and the need to restore faith in shattered financial
markets.
The U.N. chief had planned to invite Obama and other leaders to New York this month for what was
dubbed a "mini summit" on climate change, hoping that the U.S. president would use the occasion to
announce a reversal on the issue.
Former U.S. President George W. Bush was criticized in much of the developed world for rejecting the
U.N. Kyoto Protocol, which set binding targets for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute
to global warming.
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The mini summit was shelved because of the unlikelihood that the U.S. president would attend and the
realization that the issue would be raised by the G20 in London, according to diplomats and U.N. officials.
Ban also said on Thursday that he would urge the G20 nations to honor their commitments to help the
world's poorest and most vulnerable countries and push ahead with investments in environmentally
friendly initiatives.
"President Obama and I further agreed that 'green' investments must be a major part of any global
stimulus plan," he said. "If we are going to spend such tremendous sums of money, let us be smart about
it."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is hosting the April 2 summit, supports the idea, according to
Ban. Britain also has dismissed objections from countries like Russia who want the summit to focus
exclusively on the financial crisis.
"We must not allow the financial turmoil to distract us from meeting the challenges of climate change and
development," said a British government document obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.
(Editing by Paul Simao)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://www.planetark.org/enviro-news/item/52009
Canadaeast.com | March 13, 2009
World unprepared for climate change
U.S. National Research Council says current planning practices no longer valid
WASHINGTON - A new U.S. report says despite years of study and analysis, the world is unprepared for
climate change and needs to rethink basic assumptions that govern things as varied as choosing cars
and building bridges.
The report comes from the U.S. National Research Council -- the working arm of the National Academy of
Sciences.
It says current building, land use and planning practices assume a continuation of climate as it has been
known in the past.
The council says "that assumption, fundamental to the ways people and organizations make their
choices, is no longer valid."
The Earth's average temperature has been rising over the last century and scientists attribute much of the
increase to greenhouse gases added to the air by industrial processes and burning fossil fuels, such as in
automobiles.
Indeed, last year the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- which collected the
work of more than 2,000 scientists -- said climate change is "unequivocal, is already happening, and is
caused by human activity."
Government agencies need to step up their efforts to provide guidance to decision makers, including the
establishment of a national climate service, the report said.
The report, released yesterday, said the national climate service should be linked closely to research. It
noted there has been discussion of such an agency within, or led by, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, which is the parent of the National Weather Service.
Last year, leaders in the earth science community proposed creation of a new Earth Systems Science
Agency by merging NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey.
"The United States faces unprecedented environmental and economic challenges in the decades ahead.
Foremost among them will be climate change, sea-level rise, altered weather patterns, declines in
freshwater availability and quality, and loss of biodiversity," the group warned at the time.
Facing such challenges at a time when the climate is changing means officials can no longer rely on the
assumptions of the past, the new study says.
"Moreover, climatic changes will be superimposed on social and economic changes that are altering the
climate vulnerability of different regions and sectors of society, as well as their ability to cope," the
Research Council said.
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/601965
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